Shadow Man
by Usher
Summary: A new threat is on the horizon; one that threatens to destroy everything and everyone.
1. Rainforest Goddess

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As always, I own _nothing_.

**Marvel Characters belong to Marvel. Supers belong to Pixar. And everybody else belongs to everybody else****.**

**And I am a complete review hog...I love'em...remember that, please :)**

* * *

"_Jubilee, strap yerself in, something's coming for us!"_

_Jubilee's head whipped up and she quickly made sure her harness was fastened tightly._

"_Do you want me up there?" She asked, hand poised over the emergency release, preparing to dash up to the cockpit._

"_No time, it's about to-"_

_Logan was cut off by a loud bang followed by an explosion, and the cockpit seemed to explode in a riot of colour and flame. The feeling of weightlessness was suddenly replaced with intense pressure as the skin of the jet was ripped apart, and a loud scream in her ears was quickly followed by a painless darkness…_

* * *

Waking up was not a nice, gentle affair. A flare of agony brought her back to her senses with all the shock of a pile of bricks landing on her. She couldn't open her eyes. Even the thought of lifting her eyelids hurt and she settled for flopping over onto her belly, feeling the leaves and sticks scrape against her skin through the thin material of her uniform.

After what felt like an eternity, she groaned and her eyes fluttered open, immediately squinting against the faint light of the moon high overhead. "What. The. Hell. Just. Happened?"

There was no answer and she slowly pushed herself onto all fours and then onto her knees and took her first look around. In the corner of the rainforest clearing, propped up against the trunk of a massive tree, lay the smoking wreckage of the jet. Or at least, some of the jet. Half the fuselage and a wing did not constitute an entire jet.

"Wolvie?"

There was no answer and she slumped until she was sitting, staring around her in a half-daze. Her brain was muzzy, which made the headache she was experiencing feel odd. A careful check of her body showed no serious injuries and she rolled her eyes when she realised that the five-point harness was still draped around her shoulders. She pulled it off with disgust – it hadn't exactly been very useful – and absently wondered where the seat she had been strapped onto had gone. Her top was singed and half-ripped off, and her leggings were no better.

"Wolvie, are you there? You alive?"

There was no answer and she clambered clumsily to her feet, scouring the area with her eyes for any sign of the burly Canadian. "Get a grip, Lee." She muttered, scrubbing her fingers through her hair anxiously. "It's Logan. Logan doesn't die. Logan makes other people die. He's got a healing factor and he's probably a helluva lot better off than you are right now."

Gritting her teeth, she lurched towards the remains of the jet and slipped inside. The small compartment was badly damaged by the fireball that had ripped through the jet moments before it had plunged into the jungle canopy. She moved aside some debris and her breath caught in the back of her throat when it revealed the toe of a boot poking out from beneath a charred section of seating.

Cringing, she touched it and practically collapsed with relief when it came away easily in her hand. Shaking her head, she summoned a handful of sparks and illuminated the area properly.

"Figures. It's the back of the plane. Storage." She grumbled, aiming a deliberate kick against one of the warped metal panels. It broke open and tumbled away to reveal a scorched heap of uniforms and clothes that had once been packed neatly onto rows of shelves.

Rifling through the remains she came up with one miraculously undamaged set of Logan's civilian clothes. Putting them behind her she reached back in and found a pair of leggings and the only undamaged top. Sighing, she pulled on the leggings and stuffed the ends into her boots, thanking god that Remy had a trim figure – especially his waist. He was only a couple of inches wider than her. A spare belt from Beast's shorts would fix that problem and she held up the top of Ororo's uniform. It was blinding white and had long stretches of material beneath the arms that made her feel like something out of a science fiction comic. It was too long, but she belted it like a tunic top and wished she had a mirror to see the result. She had a feeling she looked kind of cool in it.

Finally decently clothed, she began to scavenge the wreckage for anything useful, but came up practically empty handed. A flick-knife was located wedged between two seats and she tucked it underneath the belt along with a lighter with half the patterned cover picked away. Well, Logan didn't bite his nails but he did need some way to get rid of nerves that didn't involve skewering Cyclops. There was nothing else around and she ducked back outside, the deep ache from the impact slowly ebbing away. Outside, the darkness seemed even more oppressive, and she knew it would be madness to go through the jungle on her own at night. Slipping back inside, she grabbed one of the damaged seats and began to tear the stuffing out of it. It was dry and would burn easily. Within twenty minutes she had a good fire going and she settled down to wait out the night and hoped that dawn would herald Wolverine's return.

XXXxxxXXX

Logan woke up wedged firmly between a branch and the trunk of a tree, pain tearing through him as ripped muscles and deep cuts began to knit together as his body repaired itself. "Shoulda been strapped in…" He groaned, opening his eyes only to be confronted with a vertigo-inducing drop. The branch he was on was high up in the air. Closing his eyes, he swallowed and opened them again, looking only at the tree trunk. Swinging his legs up and around the branch, he popped his claws and jammed them into the bark, confident they would hold his weight. It wasn't the first time he'd scaled something high using his claws, but it wasn't the most comfortable way. The adamantium was tough, but his muscles protested angrily as they supported the entire weight of his body.

Soon enough, his feet were back on terra firma, and he massaged the muscles in his forearms with a grimace, feeling them knit back together. Looking around, he spotted a light in the distance, and began to ghost his way through the trees. Hopefully, it wasn't the wreckage of the plane burning. Hopefully it was Jubilee and the kid had gotten a fire together. Hopefully the kid was able to get a fire together. Hopefully she hadn't been in the same kind of position he'd been in when he'd woken up. Hopefully…hopefully she was still alive.

A snapping branch made Jubilee's eyes snap open, and she rolled to her feet, hands blazing. "Who's there!? Come out with yer hands up and I won't hurt you!"

Logan grinned and walked into the pool of light, hands held up in the air. "Easy, kid. I won't hurt ya. You ok?"

"Oh thank God!" Jubilee was in his arms in an instant, hugging him tight. "I knew it'd be a bad idea to go looking fer ya in the darkness. I just hoped you were ok. Yer ok, aren't ya?"

Logan nodded, drawing comfort from her embrace, even though he tried not to show it. "I'm fine, kid. How about you?"

Jubilee drew back, and smiled up at him. "I'm ok. Singed with bumps and bruises, no broken bones." She gestured to the fire, and led the way back. "I couldn't find food in the jet, but there are clean clothes in there for you. All yours."

Logan grunted gratefully and disappeared into the darkness of the jet. "Ororo's uniform looks good on you." He called out as he buttoned up his shirt.

"Thank god it kinda fits. If I was any smaller, it'd be indecent." She plucked at the white fabric and wrinkled her nose as he reappeared.

Logan paused, watching as she reclined back in the padded seat, closing her eyes. She was right. If there'd been any less of her, he'd've been seeing a lot more of her. She was sixteen now, and had filled out in all the places she needed to. Not that he was looking at that. Not that he ever would. But his little girl was definitely growing up on him.

"Whatcha thinking about?" She asked, having opened her eyes again, catching him staring.

"Jus' wonderin' what happened to the kid who found me in the Outback." He grunted, grabbing one of the chairs that littered the clearing and plonking it down beside her. He sat with a sigh, feeling more than seeing the smile that crossed her face.

"She grew up. I'm not all grown yet, though, Wolvie. Have no fear."

"You'll never be grown up." He admitted frankly, and suddenly her head was on his shoulder as she flung an arm over his chest. "Not to me."

"I know." She yawned tiredly, closing her eyes again. "You take first watch, wake me in a couple of hours."

XXXxxxXXX

When dawn arrived, Jubilee was pacing around the clearing, overturning pieces of wreckage.

"Anything interesting?" Logan asked as he stretched in the chair.

"Nope. No food, no water – found a couple of canteens but I can't find the purification tablets…"

Logan nodded and looked up at the trees. "What about the radio?"

Jubilee cocked an eyebrow and gestured to the plane. "If you can tell me where the cockpit ended up, then I'll tell you about the radio."

"Touché." He muttered to himself, clambering to his feet. "The cockpit could be anywhere. The jet started to break up before we even hit the trees. We'll head down the mountain. If we come across it, all fair and good. With any luck, we'll hit a village or somethin'."

Jubilee nodded and stuck the penknife into her belt, tossing the lighter to Logan. "In case we get separated."

A couple of hours later, Logan judged they'd travelled less than half a mile. "Sit for a few minutes. We need to rest."

Jubilee nodded, sitting down on the trunk of a fallen tree. Even though it was still early in the day, the heat and humidity was sapping her strength. While she rested, he scouted the terrain ahead of them, slipping over the slick rocks and mud with less grace than he'd hoped for.

"There's some kind of a building ahead of us." He grunted when he returned, dropping down to sit beside her. "Feels deserted, but I think we should check it out. What do you think?"

A warm feeling spread through her. She could always trust him to include her in the decision making, showing he trusted her judgement as much as his own. Though he had the final vote, if she could give a valid enough reason not to do something, or to do something different, he would take it into account.

"Sounds good. Just gimmie a couple more minutes and I'm good to go. This heat's a killer."

In truth, he looked like he needed a breather as much, or even more than she did. She could hop over the fallen trees and rocks easier than he could, and with his heavy bulk, he was feeling the heat much more than she was.

He closed his eyes, and after a few minutes she realised he'd fallen asleep, and fluffing her fringe out of her eyes, she decided to take a quick look and see what was beyond the trees that had caught his attention.

Pushing through the undergrowth, she soon burst out into a clearing and stood with her mouth open. She was not someone that was usually impressed by large structures, but the fat, pyramid shaped, ornately carved ancient structure seemed to disappear up into the clouds and her jaw hung slack for a moment before she caught the action and closed it with an audible clop.

Blinking in the harsh sunlight, she walked forwards until she was standing in front of one of the corner stones that were higher than herself, and probably Logan. It had strange carvings curving around it, and catching her lower lip between her teeth, she reached out to touch it.

**//LEAVE//**

The hair on the back of her neck began to rise and she stepped backwards, colliding with him as he emerged from the foliage.

"Where do you think you're going?" He caught her as she went to fall, and she looked up into his eyes.

"We gotta go." She declared, righting herself and turning back to the trees. A large hand clamped on her shoulder, holding her in place.

"Why?"

When she looked up at him, a stab of apprehension struck his heart. He'd never seen her look frightened before. Worried, yes, but never frightened. Never the wide-eyed, boogieman is in the closet, frightened. "Something just told me to get out of here and I've a bad, bad feeling about this. I'm not going in there, no way, no where, no how."

Still holding onto her shoulder, he looked back at the giant structure. "What?"

"It's giving me the heebie jeebies, Logan, and someone just told me to Leave. As in 'Amityville Horror' Get Out! We gotta leave. We gotta leave now…"

He was about to reply when an ominous rumble heralded the ground shaking. Though he felt nothing from the structure, the fear in her eyes was enough to remind him that when she was frightened, it was time to get the hell out of dodge. Above anything else he'd learned about her over the years, he knew her instincts were as good as, if not better than his own at times.

"Ok. We'll keep going." He stepped around a bush, his boot glancing off a skull buried in the undergrowth. But his concentration was on Jubilee, and he didn't even notice. Only his hand on her shoulder stopped her from haring off into the jungle, and even when he let her go a safe distance away, she quickened her pace.

Hours later, when darkness had fallen again and she'd paffed a fire into being, he broached the subject again. "Want to explain what happened back there?"

Jubilee shook her head, shrugging as she turned the small creature she couldn't identify over on the embers. "No idea. It wasn't like Charles or Emma or Jean talkin' to me. And it was bad...Not evil, just that it'd be a real bad idea to go in there. I felt it in my bones, Wolvie. I'm not imagining it, but thanks…thanks for listening to me."

He grunted, throwing another piece of wood onto the fire. "Kid, I told you before, I'll always listen to you if you can give me a good enough reason. And the look on yer face was good enough for me. I'll trust yer instincts as much as my own."

He was rewarded by a tight but grateful smile, and they settled down for the night, Jubilee taking the first watch while Logan slept. It was nowhere near time for him to take over when the first drops of rain began to fall, and within moments they were in the middle of a deluge, the fire quickly going out with a sizzle. The first rumble of thunder woke Logan, and he opened his eyes to find Jubilee holding a huge leaf over her head, and another over his upper body. "Welcome to the Rainforest." She grumbled as the sky lit up with lightning. They spent the rest of the night huddled together as the wind picked up and howled around them, making the trees sway wildly. "Next time Scooter asks me if I want to go on a simple trip, just drop off a package in Buenos Aires, remind me to tell him to stick it up his a-" A rumble of thunder drowned out the rest of her sentence, along with his snigger, and he tightened his arm around her.

XXXxxxXXX

A few hours after dawn, Logan's eyes widened as Jubilee suddenly faltered and raised a trembling hand to her temple.

"Jubes?"

Before he could reach her side, her legs collapsed from beneath her and she dropped like a stone, lying limply across a fallen tree.

"Jubes!" Lifting her gently, he cradled her in his arms and carefully checked her over for punctures in her delicate skin that would herald a snake or spider bite. Finding none, he put his hand on her temple, biting at his lip when he felt the heat radiating from her.

"Dammit, kid, why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well."

Thumbing back her eyelids, his worry increased at the glazed look, and he shook her roughly to try to rouse her.

An hour later, he had a small shelter built and was trying to cool her down with little success. He could feel her temperature rising, and racked his brains trying to work out what was causing it. Realisation dawned on him and he sat back on his heels with a groan. The water in the last pool hadn't tasted quite right. It was passable, and in his worry about making the hill in the distance before nightfall, he hadn't even thought about the taste. His healing factor had taken care of any illnesses the tainted water might have been carrying, but it seemed that Jubilee hadn't been so lucky.

Cursing himself he looked back down at her flushed face and rubbed his hand across his mouth. He should have thought of it. _He_ was the great woodsman. He was the hunter, the tracker, the outdoorsman. She was a mallrat from LA, and even though she would probably survive if you dropped her in the middle of the wilderness in Canada, the jungles of South America were not the Rocky's. Even though he'd taught her a lot, it was his responsibility to take care of her in this kind of environment. She could handle almost any situation you could throw at her, but being stranded in the jungle was not an eventuality he had ever considered.

"I'm sorry, pumpkin." He whispered, resting his fingers on the nape of her neck, feeling her pulse thrumming beneath the sensitive pads. "I gotta get you help…"

There was nothing else for it. He couldn't leave her behind, and though moving her in her fevered state was risky, there was no other option. The shelter was quickly dismantled and in no time she was slung across his shoulder, her head and arms dangling down his back, shrouded by the white material that flowed from Storm's uniform top.

The going was hard, but he pressed on through the dense undergrowth, climbing massive fallen trees and having to skirt around chasms in the ground. As the light began to fade, he stopped and put her down, drinking deeply from a pool of clear water. He waited a while to see if it did anything to him, and when the smell, taste and healing factor tests confirmed it was drinkable, he cupped some in his hands and let it trickle into her mouth. She screwed up her face and turned away, mumbling incoherently, but when he gently touched her face, she turned back and allowed him to help her drink some more. At one point, her eyes fluttered open, but didn't focus on his face hovering over her. "I have to find him." Her words were clear for the first time since she had collapsed and he frowned.

"Find who, kid?"

"Logan. He's not in the wreckage and I gotta find him." She went to sit up, but was too weak. She stilled when he put his hand on her shoulder and she tried to grip his hand, staring up at him but not seeing him. "He might be hurt bad. His healin' factor could fail. We gotta find him. I gotta help him."

"I'll find him, sweetheart. You just close your eyes and rest."

She obeyed, but a few seconds later, her eyes flew open again. "Scott says I have to go away."

Logan immediately felt his anger begin to rise. When had one-eye declared that!

"Gotta go to some lame-assed school in Mass. I don't wanna go. I can handle mysel….." she trailed off and her eyes fluttered closed again, dragging her back into her fever addled dreams.

"Awwwh, Jubes…" He shook his head and picked her up, cradling her close. While her fever hadn't dropped any, it didn't seem to have risen much either. He spent until nightfall using his jacket to pick up water and bathe her in it, dropping her temperature down as far as he could before they set out again.

Through the night he trekked, his keen eyesight showing him the way, and on past dawn, until the humid heat of midday made him seek shelter in the undergrowth. Laying her down on a bed of leaves, he curled up beside her, resting his hand on her neck so he could feel the reassuring beat of her heart, and the gentle rise and fall of her chest.

XXXxxxXXX

Trevor Makepeace sat on the edge of the back porch and lit a cigarette, idly watching the plume of smoke as it drifted into the cloudy sky. It had been a long couple of days. First the generator for the lab had gone down, and just after they had gotten it up and running again, a storm had hit. Short and sharp, it had wreaked havoc on the small village beside them, destroying two huts and putting a tree limb through one of the upper story window openings of the Company house, shorting out their radio and satellite links, cutting them off from the outside world. If Pete couldn't get it up and running again, they would have to wait for the mail plane to arrive to be able to get any kind of an order in for a replacement.

Two of the native kids ran up with a ball, but he lazily waved them away. He wasn't in the mood to play. He'd just spent the last 9 hours analysing plants and all he wanted to do was sit and smoke and enjoy the sunshine while it lasted.

Something tapping his shoulder twenty minutes later made him jump, and he flashed a smile up at the bottle of beer as it appeared in front of his face.

"Thanks mate." He snapped the top off and drank deeply. It was nice to have something cold again.

"No problem." Pete sat down beside him, letting his legs dangle over the side. "Amapa is getting big." He gestured with his own beer towards where the two kids were playing with the football.

"Told you bringing the ball was a good idea." His friend added with a happy grin. After six months in the Rainforest he was looking forward to his two-month break. But he was enjoying the work. Not many pharmaceutical companies would pay for this kind of research, let alone situate you out in the middle of nowhere, but it gave him the isolation he liked, along with the perks of civilisation. Mainly, satellite TV, phone and Internet services…when they worked.

"How's the phone coming on?"

Pete glowered at him and shrugged. "It's coming. Let's just leave it at that…"

He trailed off with a frown and put down his beer, hopping off the porch onto the hard-packed earth. "Trev, there's something in the trees …"

XXXxxxXXX

Logan wasn't tired. To be tired means that you remember a time when you weren't. And he was more than exhausted. His brain seemed to be functioning on minimal power, and all that was keeping him going was the dead weight of Jubilee over his shoulder. From time to time, her hand would hit him, or her head would bounce against his back and it would spur him on. He couldn't let her down. He couldn't let her die.

They were on flat ground now, and had left the foothills of the mountain. He was barely sleeping, content only when walking or trying to cool her down or get some food – mainly berries – into her. But water was getting scarcer, and he knew that if he didn't get her help soon, it would be too late. In fact, he was worried that yesterday was too late. Or the day before. In truth, he couldn't remember how long he had been walking. But she was still breathing, and that was what counted, right?

Suddenly a scent on the wind caught his attention and he stopped in his tracks. It was wood smoke. Wood smoke meant people and people, hopefully, meant help. Turning, he angled himself towards the wind and closed his eyes. He could barely identify the smell of humans beneath the heady scent of burning wood, but it was there. Picking up his pace, he hurried through the undergrowth until he burst out onto a large grassy clearing. In front of him was probably the nicest sight he'd seen in years. A two story, Western style house made out of local materials was in the corner, happy beneath it's grass thatch roof, and clustered to the side were small huts with smoke emerging from the roofs. Half-naked children played in the shade, and here and there pigs and chickens grazed.

Trevor frowned as the man came closer and slid off the porch, joining Pete on the ground. "What's he carrying?" He asked quietly, his hand going for the knife he usually wore at his belt, but was currently sitting on the kitchen table.

"Christ, it's a kid!" Pete broke into a loping run, covering the ground between them and the stranger quickly. When he reached the man, he seemed to give up, collapsing down to his knees.

"She needs help. Please…" His voice was cracked and strained, and Trevor helped ease the girl off his shoulder, lying her down on the ground while Pete caught him as he began to topple forwards. "She drank bad water…I think she drank bad water…"

Turning, he began shouting for help in Portuguese, calling some of the women from their huts. Emerging from the shadows, they saw the strangers lying on the ground and ran over, calling out for their husbands to join them.

"**Maja, please, help me carry her inside. Ask your good husband to help Peter to carry the man in."**

The woman he addressed nodded and began babbling to her husband, pointing at the burly white man.

**"Maker of Peace, what are they doing here? What is wrong? Where did they come from?"** she asked, taking the girls legs as Peter grasped her beneath her arms.

**"I do not know, but they need our help. But do not worry, Trevor will help them. He is a good doctor."**

Maja nodded and picked up her pace, almost tripping over her feet in her haste to get the girl inside and out of the sun. She could feel the young one's skin burning underneath her fingers and knew instantly what was wrong.

**"She has drank from tainted water, Maker of Peace."** She cautioned him as they laid her gently down on one of the daybeds. **"Her body is trying to fight the bad spirits off. She needs to be cooled down and quickly, lest there be damage to her body. Sit with her, and I will fetch water and cloths."**

Peter nodded, taking in the appearance of the girl now that they had her settled inside. She had Asian features, and she was travelling with a white man, which was strange, especially considering the fact that they were in the middle of nowhere in South America. He couldn't work out how they had gotten there, or where they had come from. He didn't have long to dwell, as Maja's husband, two other villagers and Trevor entered, all red-faced from the effort of carrying the man.

"Christ, Pete, he must be made from rocks!" The doctor dropped the limb he was holding unceremoniously once they had him positioned over a mat. "He's just exhausted and a little dehydrated. Move over and let me have a look at the kiddie."

He gave Amapa a smile as the eight year old barrelled in with his medical kit and handed it over. "Muito obrigado, Amapa"

Pulling out his stethoscope and a thermometer, he began to check her over, searching her limbs for wounds or bites, just as Logan had done. Finding none, he pulled her up until she was sitting and pulled up her top, feeling over the skin for the same. "I think he was right. Bad water. **Amapa, go to the locked cab...never mind.** Pete, go to the medicine cabinet, get the vials on the top shelf next to the syringes. I need to draw blood too…"

As Peter began to run out the door, he called him back; "And get a move on with fixing that damned phone. We might need to get her airlifted out of here…"

Pursing his lips, he pressed his stethoscope back to her chest and listened intently as she breathed. It sounded like she had no fluid in her lungs just yet. If they could just lower the fever…

XXXxxxXXX

Logan woke up slowly, feeling like a heavy weight was sitting on his chest. After a while, he hazarded opening one of his eyes a crack and got an eyeful of a something at very close range.

It took most of his self-control not to heave whatever it was off of him, and risked opening his other eye, blinking until he could focus. The heavy weight on his chest was a young South American kid wearing nothing but a loincloth, five or six at the most, straddling his torso, and he grinned down at Logan bouncing up and down.

"Jeeze, easy kid…" He reached up and gently moved the child away, sitting up slowly.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." An English accent greeted him. "Muopa, go play."

The boy giggled but ran out of the room as the owner of the voice came into view. "Hi, I'm Peter."

Logan swallowed, trying to work some moisture into his mouth to speak. "Easy, there. Here." Peter quickly held a canteen of water to his lips and let him drink. After a few gulps, the man stopped and pushed it away. "Thanks. Don't wanna throw up. I'll have some more in a few minutes if you'll let me."

Logan hadn't a clue where he was or who this 'Peter' guy was. And more importantly, he didn't know if he was a prisoner or not.

"You guys scared the crap out of us when you arrived through the trees like that." Peter continued conversationally, putting the cap back on the canteen and handing it over to Logan, who gripped it tightly.

"Jubes? The kid…?" he cleared his throat gruffly and took another sip from the canteen as Peter began to stuff cushions behind his back.

"My colleague is a doctor. He's taking care of her. What happened? Why are you two trekking through the Rainforest in the middle of nowhere?"

Logan took another sip and sat back. His healing factor was taking care of him, but he was feeling weak from lack of food and water. "Jet went down. Broke apart. We couldn't find the radio…How's the kid?"

Peter sat back and looked at the man carefully. He seemed to be telling the truth. Cautiously, he waggled his hand. "So so. She's not well, but you were lucky. We work for Jensen Pharmaceuticals…doing research on cures for virus's using the local plant life. Trevor thinks he knows what she's caught, but he's basically giving her every drug under the sun he can think of to try to break her fever. Once that's broken, she should be fine."

Logan bit at the inside of his lip, hearing the wealth of meaning behind the _should_. "You got a phone?"

Peter suddenly looked away, his cheeks reddening. "Technically, yes." He admitted finally. "But we had a storm…I'm trying to fix it, but I'm not exactly Mr. Techno-gadget. If all comes to all, the mail plane is due in two weeks and we can order the parts then. If the girl –Jubes?- is up to it, then you two can leave on it if you need to. In the meantime, I'll keep working on the phone."

Logan nodded and went to get up, stopping as the room began to spin. He ignored Peter's protests and stood, hunching over slightly as his abused body protested. "I want to see her." he growled lowly.

Peter could see it would be useless to try to stop him, and ducked underneath the man's arm, helping him walk. "How old is she?"

"Sixteen."

Peter realised he must have made a surprised sound when Logan stopped and looked down at him.

"I thought she was a lot younger!"

"She's definitely sixteen." Logan explained quietly. "And considering I already bought her sweet sixteen present, I'll kill her if I have to buy her another one in a couple of years."

Peter smiled and guided him into another room where Jubilee tossing and turning on a bed, perspiration streaming from her face.

"Fever's broke, but she's been calling out for something called 'Wolvie' for the past hour." Trevor muttered, taking the stethoscope out of his ears. "I dunno…how's the guy?"

"Better now I'm up an' about." Logan growled, stumbling towards the bed. As he got closer, he could hear the whisper coming from her lips, his name over and over. Dropping down onto the bed, he laid his hand on her forehead, relaxing as the intense heat was no longer there. "I'm here, sweetheart. Go to sleep."

"'Wolvie…." Her eyes fluttered open and she shifted uncomfortably on the sheets. "Feel sick…"

"I know. Go to sleep and it'll all be better when you wake up, pum'kin."

"k…" Her eyes drifted closed and she turned her head towards him with a small sigh.

Both men watched on as Logan took Trevor's seat, hovering over her.

"C'mon. We'd better get a move-on with that phone."

XXXxxxXXX

It took another two days to repair the phone and by the time Logan could get a call through to the Mansion, Jubilee was back in the land of the living, though terribly weak and prone to falling asleep in the middle of a conversation.

Pete left him alone to make the call, and he paced as he listened to the dial tone.

"Xavier Institute."

"Gambit, it's Logan. We need a lift."

In the control room of the base, Remy rolled his eyes. "You lose de jet mebbie?"

"Someone or somethin' shot us down; Jet broke apart before we even hit the ground. Took this long to get out of the jungle and find some help. Kid got sick. Tell Cyke to fire up the jet and come down and get us. He might wanna bring McCoy with him. Kid's still not a hundred percent."

Remy had already hit the alarm button, and as Scott skidded into the room, he flicked it onto speaker and asked "What's wrong with her?"

"We think she drank tainted water. She was delirious for a while. I stumbled across some pharmaceutical company's research station, and one of the two guys here is a doctor. Her fever's broke, but she's weak as hell." Clearing his throat, he gave Remy the co-ordinates and hung up, not waiting to hear the affirmative.

"As pleasant as ever." Scott grunted, taking the piece of paper with the coordinates written on it. "What excuse did he give?"

"Somethin' shot'em down." Remy shrugged. "You might wanna take Beast with you."

XXXxxxXXX

Bringing the jet down further, Scott shook his head as Hank peered out of the cockpit window. "Well?"

"I would advise you to bank sharply to the right." Hank snapped as something in the canopy moved and his keen eyes caught sight of a gun barrel swivelling around to take aim. "We are being targeted."

Scott obeyed his orders as a barrage of red lasers fired up into the sky. "Well, that's what brought them down." He murmured, bringing the blackbird around in a large sweeping circle, well out of the range of the gun.

"Scott, there's no life signs down there." Jean murmured from the seat behind them.

"I'm taking it out." Scott flipped a switch to activate the lasers and took another pass. Beast's sharp shooting quickly took out the turret, and after another handful of passes and two more gun instillations destroyed, they were all happy that there were no more hidden dangers in the trees.

A few minutes later, they were landing in the large empty space in front of a cluster of rude huts and a large house.

When Jean stepped out of the jet, she found Logan standing on the porch, dressed in civilian clothes and smoking a cigar.

"Jean." He called out, stepping into the harsh sunshine.

"Logan, we saw the wreckage."

Logan was glad to see that she too was dressed in civilian clothes, and when Hank stepped out of the jet, he saw he was wearing an image inducer. "Glad to see you, Red."

"It was an unmanned cannon. We took care of it." Scott called out, from behind Hank. "Where's Jubilee?"

Logan jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Lazin' on the couch. She's got an audience."

He didn't explain any further, but when Scott stepped into the small sitting room he found two bemused scientists staring at a long line of young native boys and girls, all staring silently at the sleeping teenager.

"They've never seen an Asian before." Pete explained quietly, standing to shake his hand. His smile was friendly, and Scott began to relax. "They're a little bit obsessed. It took us a week to persuade them to stop staring when we got here first."

Scott nodded as Hank made a beeline for the couch, opening his doctors bag as he walked. Trevor joined him beside her, murmuring quietly in medical jargon.

Hank smiled when her eyelids fluttered open, and after a half-second of confusion, she recognised the digitally induced image and smiled. "Hank…"

He grinned and brushed aside a lock of hair gently. "Jubilee. How are you feeling?"

"Tired, and a bit like something out of a freak show. They're still staring at me, aren't they?"

His smile grew, and he nodded. "Ready to break out of this joint?"

She nodded emphatically and wrapped her arms around his neck, letting him pick her up.

They said their goodbyes to Peter and Trevor, and were soon winging their way home, leaving new friends and bad memories behind them.


	2. Welcome to the Jungle Part I

"Has anyone realised that this could be our last mission as a team?" Paige asked softly from her seat in the back of the plane. Jubilee and Jono shrugged awkwardly and Everett reached out and squeezed her hand.

"We probably all did, Paige. But it's not like we're going out on our own, or we're gonna be split up." He countered brightly. "We're just joining the main team is all."

Jubilee let a wry grin cross her face for a split second before nodding. "Joining the big-leagues. Or at least, rejoining for me. 'Bout time too."

Beside her, Angelo rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Lee, if what you're going to say next starts with 'when I was with the X-Men' I will pound you into the ground when we land." He grumbled, and there was a quiet snort of amusement from the cockpit where Sean and Charles sat.

"Sean or Xavier?" Jubilee whispered with a dark look.

"Xavier." Angelo replied, seeing the bald man raise his hand to conceal his smile. "I guess he's heard some of your stories too."

"No, Angelo." Xavier announced from the front of the jet. "I have been there for her 'when I was with the X-Men moments'. And I can assure you, they were more than likely accurate."

Jubilee turned in her seat and flashed them all a triumphant smile. "Hah! And none of you believed me!"

"No, we are just sick of hearing 'when I was with the blah-de-blah'." Monet countered icily, making a 'mouthing off' gesture with her hand. "If I hear that one more time I think I will lose my lunch."

"Nah lass, that's just Emma's cooking." Sean countered, steering the jet in a downward spiral. "Now get ready, we're on final approach."

Jubilee nodded and looked out her window, tightening her harness. Memories of the crash, even though it was months before, rang in her mind, and Sean's landings were not known for being smooth. "So what's down here other than a big-assed temple nobody's probably seen in centuries?" She asked, seeing the green canopy of the rainforest approaching at an almost alarming rate. They were hundreds of miles away from the temple she and Logan had stumbled across, but she was beginning to have serious feelings of _déjà vu_.

"Trees." Sean replied blithely. "And whatever else we might find is the reason we are here. Emma got an anonymous tip-off that there's something odd down there that we need to look at. That's why we're here."

He landed the small jet with a light thump and followed them out onto the short grass. He had been so wrapped up with landing the jet that he hadn't had time to look around properly.

"Wow." He blurted out, looking around him. The jet sat in the middle of a huge field, the grass cropped short as if it were used for grazing and here and there, bare patches of earth showed through. But around them was the impressive stuff. Huge cliffs three or four stories high reached upwards and he suddenly felt like he was an insignificant speck. Within the circle of cliffs sat four large, ancient, crumbling buildings, covered with vines. One even had a gigantic tree growing from between the cracks in the blocks that were used to build it. Only three of them were still whole, the fourth a crumbled heap of rocks. But sat in between the four buildings, two on either side, was the inky black mouth of a cave.

"Looks Aztec." Xavier murmured, guiding his chair down the ramp. Sean nodded, looking from building to building.

Beside him, Jubilee was looking at their surroundings with a frown wrinkling her forehead, while Angelo quietly began singing the first few lines to 'Welcome to the Jungle'.

"Jubilation?" Charles looked up to find her eyes darting nervously. "What do you see?"

Reluctantly, she dragged her eyes away from the trees and vines and looked down at him, her eyes showing the deadly seriousness that she rarely showed. "Absolutely nothing. Not a bird, not a beast…listen…Angelo, shut up."

Charles nodded, giving her an almost condescending smile that raised the hackles on the back of her neck. "Sometimes creatures tend to abhor man-made structures. I would assume that even though this place has been deserted for centuries, it is more than likely that the warning has been passed down through generations of birds and mammals to stay away."

He moved his chair forwards, still looking at the surroundings, and missed Jubilee's small growl of frustration. "He needs to listen to me." She whispered to herself, rubbing her arms as she eyed their surroundings. She felt that the high rock walls were looming over them and a shiver went down her spine. Angelo thumping her on the arm brought her back down to earth with a jump, and she broke her stare, tuning in just in time to hear Sean speak.

"We'd best split up. This place is too large for us to explore as a group. Charles are ye readin' any life signs?"

Charles closed his eyes and reached out telepathically. "No. I can feel no human mind in the vicinity. It should be safe. Remember, everyone, we are looking for the temple"

Sean nodded and began directing the team, splitting them up. "Jubilee and Everett, you take the cave over there. Charles and Jono take the first building on the right. Paige and Angelo, the one beside it. Monet, you will go with me, we'll take the one over there. Everyone happy?"

Jubilee looked ready to protest, but she shrugged and trudged after Everett as he hurried towards the temple.

"What's wrong with her?" Sean asked peevishly.

Monet gave a soft smile. "She and Everett are not on the best of terms right now. Everett made an impolite comment about Wolverine and Jubilee reacted badly."

Sean and Charles frowned. "How badly, Lass?"

"She punched him." Angelo announced happily, walking backwards towards the building he and Paige had to examine. "Chica mightn't be talkin' to Logan right now, but she sure still likes him."

XXXxxxXXX

"This place looks old." Jubilee turned in a slow circle as she walked into the middle of the vine covered cavern, looking at the circle of light that shone through the break in the roof. "Like nobody's been here in a long, long time."

"Duh, that's why it's called a 'lost' temple Jubes." Everett muttered, keeping his eyes on the foliage covered walls and the tall slabs of rock that were dotted around the floor. "Its weird."

"That's for sure. No skulls though, that's a plus!" she replied with a false brightness. "This place gives me the heebie-jeebies Ev. I don't like it." Everett scowled as she moved some dirt aside and bent down to examine the floor beneath it. "This is man-made. The whole structure is man-made."

Everett nodded in agreement. "Looks that way." He bent down beside her and began to help her brush away the sand, and within a few minutes they had uncovered a large piece of rock, carved with the symbol of a sun. "I think I'll go and get the others, you…stay put. Don't touch anything."

Jubilee caught sight of his grin and raised her fist with finger extended. "Stuff it, Synch." She bit out, sticking out her tongue at the jibe.

"Just…don't. OK?" He muttered pointedly, lifting a hand in warning as he walked backwards towards the mouth of the cave. "For once."

When Everett left, Jubilee shivered as the temperature in the room seemed to drop another few degrees. Biting at her lower lip, she turned to face the huge vine-covered rock face.

"I wonder what's behind here?" She murmured, reaching out to touch a leaf.

XXXxxxXXX

"So what exactly is it?"

Sean looked up at the roof of the cavern, echoing Jubilee's movements as he turned around in a slow circle.

"Old lost temple." Everett sighed, rubbing his hand over his bald head. "Jubilee?" closing his eyes, he bit back a curse. She wasn't in the room. "JUBILEE! GET OUT HERE!"

Beside him, Sean gritted his teeth. "Has she gone wanderin' again?"

"No!" Jubilee called out, and emerged from behind a curtain of vines. "Just looking at some of the carvings behind here. Definitely man-made. Kinda cool."

"What's 'kinda cool'? Wow…" Angelo called out, following Charles and Jono inside. Paige stood behind him and craned her neck back to look at the ceiling. "Big." She murmured, trying to judge the distance between the non-existent ceiling and the floor. "Must have been even more impressive before the rainforest took over."

Jubilee rubbed at her arms, feeling the chill in the air deepen and nodded. "Can you imagine that about a thousand years ago, someone was standing right were we are now…god only knows what they were doing…"

"Praying probably." Everett pointed to the huge sun emblazoned in stone on the floor of the cavern. "To some sun god."

"Or human sacrifices." She countered quickly, giving the cavern another eyeballing. Something was wrong. The whole place felt wrong to her and she couldn't believe no one else could feel it.

"Get real, Jubilee." Everett snapped back and Jubilee's eyes narrowed as she considered taking a warning step towards him.

"Were you here a thousand years ago Ev? No? Well then shut your mouth, 'cos you don't know." She lifted her head and looked at Sean, her eyes clouded with worry. "I really think we should leave, Sean. This place isn't right."

Beside her, Paige began to nod slowly. "I agree. I don't like this place. It's…not right."

Rolling his eyes, Sean folded his arms across his chest. "Can either of ye give me a more valid reason than 'it's not right?'" he asked patiently.

"It gives me the heebie jeebies?" Jubilee offered hopefully. Paige just shook her head, eyeing the vegetation with apprehension.

"Well then, that's settled. Everett, you and Angelo start looking behind the vines. The rest of ye might as well start looking at the standing stones."

Monet ignored them all and lifted the camcorder, recording everything she could see.

"Jono, help me with this." Charles murmured, pointing to the slab of symbol covered rock nearest to him. Jono obediently trotted over and walked beside the older man in his hover-chair as they approached the slab. "This is ancient…the carvings…I couldn't even begin to guess at what they mean." Xavier murmured, peering at the symbols chipped out of the rock face. The faceless mutant nodded and put his hand on the slab, his fingers brushing against a small symbol of the sun at the edge of the smooth rock face. Suddenly and without warning, the slab of smooth stone they were standing on pivoted and tipped them forwards into the darkness, slamming back into place with a thump.

"Get over here!" Sean roared, running his fingers over the now stable floor slab. Jubilee scrabbled in the sand, scooping it away from the edges to see if there was anything she could get purchase on, but to no avail. Gritting her teeth, she stood and began running her hands against the rock on the wall, seeing if she could find the trigger that had dumped the two X-men into the unknown. As she worked, Paige husked into a metal form and began trying to lever up the stone but it wouldn't budge an inch.

Monet sat back on her haunches and tried to contact both telepaths, but to no avail. "They aren't answering." There was a hint of worry in her voice, mixed with frustration. "Nothing…it's like they've disappeared off the grid."

Jubilee and Sean shared a worried look and Sean stepped back to see if he could see anything that might help them. Jubilee chewed at her lip and slapped her hand against the rock in frustration. Suddenly the world seemed to tilt and she found herself descending into the darkness with a loud yelp of surprise. What little light there was disappeared when the rock closed back over and she descended down into the unknown, her uniform barely protecting her body from friction burns as she slid over the bare rock.

She landed on her feet with a thud and promptly lost her balance, falling onto all fours. Her breath caught in the back of her throat as the oppressive darkness closed in around her, and she mentally shook herself, cursing at her lack of thought. Rolling her eyes, a handful of paffs lit up the darkness and she realised she had to be standing in another large cavern as her light didn't touch another surface other than the floor…even the ceiling was too far above her to see.

"Professor? Jono? Yo! Starsmore, you in here?" She called out, turning 360 degrees, lighting up all around her. There was no answer, and she moved her light closer to the ground to see where the tracks led. But there were no tracks in the bone white sand. The coldness that had made her shiver in the roofless cavern now made her shake as goosebumps covered her arms and she swallowed convulsively, holding her hand up higher and increasing the power of her paff. "Anybody here? Nobody here? Any_thing_ here?" She asked again, trying to banish the quaver from her voice. "Come on guys, you couldn't have gone far…the three of us went down the same chute…guys? If this is a prank, I swear, it's not funny…guys…?" her voice decreased in volume as she spoke and she looked upwards, hoping to see where she had exited. Only there was nothing there but infinite darkness. "I'm so screwed…"

XXXxxxXXX

"Everett, go around and see if there are any tunnels hidden beneath those vines." Sean snapped angrily. "Angelo, go back to the jet and see if you can find a pry bar or something."

As the others ran off to do their tasks, Monet reached around the rock, making sure not to stand on the slab and touched against the same symbol Jubilee had touched.

"Why doesn't it work?" She asked peevishly. She increased the force with which she touched it and grazed her lower lip with her teeth.

"I don't know lass, but go help Everett." Sean ordered shortly.

"Got one!" Everett shouted out, ripping away some of the greenery to reveal a dark tunnel. "Monet, tell Angelo to grab some torches while he's at the jet. We're going to need them."

Paige frowned and husked into the hardest form she could, going down on one knee. Her eyes narrowed and she began to pound her fist into the slab, stopping after a few blows. She was dismayed to see that her efforts didn't so much as chip it. "This isn't happening." She murmured, slamming her fist down once more. "Not now."

XXXxxxXXX

Jubilee was close to panicking. She couldn't keep up paffing the darkness. It was sapping her strength and she still hadn't found the edge of the cavern she was in, let alone that the power and amount she was producing was growing weaker and smaller each time. Growling, she drew an arrow in the sand, pointing in the direction she was travelling and sat down on the floor drawing her legs up against her chest, resting her chin on her knees. Closing her eyes, she thought hard about what she was going to do next.

"Face it, Lee. There's nothing else you can do but keep walking." She grumbled. A small voice at the back of her head murmured that maybe it might have been better if she'd stayed where she'd landed. But there was nothing for it. She'd never find her way back there anyhow. Even her footprints disappeared as the sand slid back into place behind her.

The walk seemed endless. She didn't know how long she'd been in there, or how far she had walked. The odd paff from time to time lit up the darkness, showing nothing but a perfectly level sandy floor and infinite blackness beyond.

"Annnybooody theeeeerrrreeee?" She called out and suddenly stopped in her tracks. "Oh crap. What if I'm dead and this is like, purgatory or something?" She gulped worriedly and turned in a quick circle, "God, I'm, like, sorry if I pissed you off in the past…if you're there…if this is purgatory…I'm too young to die?" she finished hopefully, waiting to be struck down for blaspheming. "Not dead? Dead? An answer would be nice…helpful…"

She waited what felt like an eternity for an answer but got nothing. "I'm getting really sick of this!" She screamed out, the absence of noise beginning to get to fray her already frazzled nerves. "I don't like the dark! I want some light goddamnit!" A bubble of panic worked it's way through her and she lifted her hands and blasted the darkness with everything she had, letting out a roar of anger and frustration. The sparks died away leaving her in darkness once again and she fell to her knees, letting out a sob.

As she wiped her eyes and tried to get a hold of herself, she missed the light that crept towards her in the distance. A single solitary bubble that bobbed and weaved through the darkness.

//you//

Jubilee's head jerked up when the small orb bobbed in front of her face and she fell back, floundering as she shuffled away from it, kicking up the sand. She felt the voice in her bones the same as she had when she and Logan had stumbled across the ruin months before.

//are you worthy?//

"I don't understand?" The tears glistened on her cheeks and she hurriedly wiped at them, trying to remove all proof of their existence.

//do you believe you are worthy?//

"Of what?" A snap of defiance crept into her voice and the bubble of light darted towards her, making her shuffle back even further, her breath catching in her throat as it hovered just in front of her eyes, making her cross them to keep it in focus.

//you are uncomfortable//

Jubilee couldn't work out if the voice was male or female. It was asexual and sounded almost curious. "I don't like being in situations I don't understand and I don't like the dark." She stated flatly.

//do you believe you are worthy?…//

Jubilee shook her head violently and snorted. "I. Don't. Understand. The. Question."

//You have spoken to Our brethren before. Why did you return when you were warned to stay away?//

Jubilee frowned, immediately knowing what it was talking about. "What? Back at the other temple? It's miles away…I didn't know…"

//Do you think you are worthy of life?//

Jubilee froze at the matter of fact tone, and her heart started hammering inside her chest again. "I do."

//Why?//

The voice sounded curious and she felt the level of fear inside her spike. No normal person would ask that question. And neither would any human with half a brain cell. Therefore what she was dealing with was probably not human…or mutant. "Why? Because… because all living things deserve life…because I'm a good person…at least I think I'm a good person…I don't know…I annoy people some people…why the hell am I justifying myself to you?!" she babbled.

//do you want to live?//

"Yes." The answer was given quickly and with definite belief and the bubble of light drew back slightly.

//and your companions. The other trespassers; the mute and the cripple. Those that search for you. Do they deserve life?//

"Yes!" Jubilee exclaimed. "They do! They all do! The professor gave me a place to stay, he took me in…he took us all in. Gave us a home…a chance to help other people. Jono's my friend. They are kind good people! Please don't hurt them! If you are going to hurt any of us for trespassing or whatever has pissed you off, then take me. Leave them alone!"

//you would give your life for them?// the voice was curious and the ball of light moved even closer. This one was easy though. She didn't even have to think.

"In a heartbeat."

//the darkness scares you// it wasn't a question, more a statement of fact and Jubilee found herself nodding.

"Yes." She whispered, suddenly finding it hard to speak. "It scares me."

//why?//

Jubilee blinked. She had never had to explain her fear of the dark to anyone before. Not even to Logan. He'd just taken her terror as fact and dealt with it as such. He'd been the one to purchase a nightlight for her when they'd first come to the mansion.

"It hides things. Bad things. Nothing good ever comes from the shadows. Nightmares come from the shadows."

//how apt. For the nightmare comes// the voice murmured and suddenly the bubble began to expand. //You have trespassed. Will you accept the punishment to spare your friends?//

Jubilee swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded. "Willingly. I'm not afraid of you."

//You are a good soul// the expanding light pulsed suddenly and flashed outwards, enveloping her in a beam of intense white light. //you will do//

XXXxxxXXX

Angelo kept walking, holding his torch up high to see where he was stepping.

"Keep going Angelo. We're right behind you." Sean assured him, glancing around to make sure he wasn't lying. Paige gave him a tight smile and a nod, urging him forwards. She had lost count of the tunnels they had gone down and they were all exhausted, but refused to give up the search.

"Sean…this one's a dead end too." Angelo sighed, his shoulders sagging. And with so much extra skin, it emphasised the gesture. He slapped his hand against the solid rock wall and shook his head. "Back we go."


	3. Welcome to the Jungle Part II

//...breathe...//

Jubilee opened her eyes with a gasp and blinked lazily, feeling like she had just woken up. Rubbing at her face, she slowly clambered to her feet and looked around, her movements slow and sluggish. It took her a few moments remember that she had fallen down a chute after Jono and the Professor, and rubbing her face she looked upwards, seeing the outline of the chute entrance in the barely illuminated gloom of the underground cavern. "Must've hit my head on the way down and passed out." She muttered, dusting off her knees. "Professor? Jono, you in here? You ok?" her eyes began to adjust to the dim light that filled the cavern she'd landed in and she turned in a slow circle, looking all around her to try to see if she could find them. The place was filled with rock pillars and she clucked her tongue against her teeth as she peered into the gloom. Spotting the remnants of Charles's chair not too far away beneath another opening in the cavern's roof, she sprinted towards it. There was nothing underneath or around it and she bit out a curse, lighting a paff that was noticeably weaker than it should have been.

"What the…?" She blinked in the pale light and felt a wave of weakness rush through her as if she'd expended most of her powers. "Hey that's not right…"

"Jubilation?"

Her head jerked up at the sound of Xavier's voice and relief filled her. "Professor!" She turned around to see where he was, but couldn't find him. "Where are you? Say something and I'll try find you. Your chair is toast by the way."

"I know Jubilation. But I don't think I'll need it." Charles sounded puzzled, and vines that lined the cavern moved. A few moments later he appeared out of the foliage and her jaw dropped. He was standing on his own two feet, walking steadily.

"Wha...how?" she took an anxious step backwards, only to have him hold up his hand. A tickle at the back of her mind showed he was trying to contact her telepathically, and she hesitated before dropping her shields slightly. The mind that touched hers was comfortingly familiar and she let out a sigh of relief.

//It is truly me Jubilation. I awoke a few minutes ago to find that I could indeed walk.//

"Where's Jono?"

Charles looked worried and shook his head. "I don't know. The last thing I remember was falling down that-"

"Chute. Same here. Well, he has to be around here somewhere. I guess there are splits or something in the chute and we all came out different ones. I'd love to know what this place was."

Charles nodded. "I will see if I can contact Jono or the others. Can you make that any brighter?" He gestured to her hand and she bit at her lip.

"I don't know. It feels like I've drained most of my powers, but I don't remember doing it. I'll try." She closed her eyes and concentrated, but in the end, the pool of light around them only extended another few feet. "Sorry." She panted, shaking her head. "Can't do much more than that. Can't even keep it up…" her knees buckled and the light went out as she collapsed to the ground.

Charles bit out a curse and dropped to one knee beside her, turning her over. He couldn't see her face very well in the dim light, but when he rested his hand on her chest he felt the comforting rise and fall of breathing and swallowed convulsively with relief.

//Professor?//

"Jono!" He couldn't conceal the relief in his voice and heard a shuffling in the darkness around him. "We're over here!"

//Summink strange is going on Professor// the Englishman sounded puzzled and worried.

"What's wrong?"

"I got me face back." Jono stepped into view and Charles's jaw dropped.

XXXxxxXXX

Everett shook his head as Sean pushed the communicator against his chest. "Oh no, Sean. No way. You're the team leader…you're the senior X-Man here. You tell Ms. Frost and Scott we've lost them."

"Lad jus' do what you're told for once in your life." Sean snapped tiredly.

"I don't have a death wish! Get Monet to do it!"

Monet chose that moment to reappear. "The X-men are here."

Sean turned and glared at her. "What? Who contacted them?"

Angelo silently held up his hand. "Uh, I meant to tell you, Senor…when I went back for the crow-bar, Emma was on the radio. She wanted to know what was happening…"

"And you told her!?"

Angelo stared at him silently. Of course he told her. It was _Emma_!

XXXxxxXXX

"I think we need to start getting out of here." Jono murmured worriedly, looking around with wide eyes. Charles let go of Jono's face and looked up as the rocks around them trembled slightly accompanied by an ominous rumble. A fine dust drifted down around them and they both looked upwards apprehensively. Not waiting to be told, Jono scooped Jubilee up into his arms and ran towards the tunnel he had found while looking for Charles. They plunged into the darkness, keeping up the fast pace as they ran. Charles quickly overtook him and ran with one hand touching the wall, guiding Jono with the other. After a couple of minutes they erupted out of the mouth of the tunnel and burst through the vines into the temple, startling the group of X-men that had gathered to look for them.

"Don't ask just run!" Charles shouted, picking up the pace as those around them began to run. Jono stumbled as a particularly strong quake struck and the slab of stone he was running on tilted sharply. He fell headlong, Jubilee sliding from his arms just as a large chasm opened up in front of them. His leather coat caught on the edge of the slab, halting his descent. He let out a cry of dismay as Jubilee continued to slide towards the edge. The shock of being dropped woke her and she opened her eyes to find she was sliding feet first towards the deep rift in the earth. Unable to stop, she slithered over the edge, her hands desperately slapping at the surface to try and find something to grip.

"Jubilee!" When the tremors had started, Rogue had taken to the air, following the others. Spotting Jubilee disappearing downwards, she went into a nosedive, speeding into the chasm. She hadn't gone more than twenty feet down when she spotted Jubilee dangling from a rock, her hands wrapped around the small protrusion as the rest of her body swung above the unending blackness below, legs flailing as she tried to swing herself upwards.

"Hey sugar, you want a lift?"

Jubilee raised her head and fixed her with a grimy, tear-streaked face. Thin lipped, she gave a sharp nod. Giving her a comforting smile, the Southern Belle caught her beneath the arms and soared upwards, bursting into the open air just as another violent shudder shook the area. They landed on more stable ground and Rogue let Jubilee slither to her feet, looking around in shock. "What the hell is-"

She cut off as a huge piece of building broke off and came crashing to the ground, startling everyone. Without another word, Jean and Scott grabbed her arms and dragged her along as large pieces of rock began to topple around them, sending the buildings crashing to the ground. Bursting out into the large grassy space outside the compound, they split towards the two jets and poured inside them.

"Everybody buckle up!" Scott shouted, turning on the engines and guiding the Blackbird upwards. To their right, Gen-X's jet soared past, Monet at the controls and they came to a hovering stop high above. All that could be heard in either jet was frantic panting as everyone fought to regain their breath and still their racing hearts.

Jubilee unhooked her seatbelt and staggered over to the small window reaching it just in time to see the remains of the ruins crumple in on themselves. "Well, that was close."

"Jubilee?"

She looked up to find Jean staring at her strangely. "What?"

Jean opened and closed her mouth before taking another deep breath. "What the hell happened in there?! Jono has a face and Professor Xavier is _walking_!"

Jubilee eased back into her seat beside Remy and blinked in confusion. "What? What are you talking about?"

"What happened?" Scott flicked on the autopilot and turned to look at her sternly, his visor flashing.

"I have no idea! The last thing I remember was me and the professor…I tried to make the light bigger…then it all went black. Next thing I knew, I was out there with you guys…falling to my death. Again." she frowned and looked up at Remy, her head still muzzy. "Uh, Rem?"

The handsome empath looked down at her seriously, feeling the confusion, and the remnants of the memory of pain rolling off her in waves. "Oui Petite?"

"Did Jean just say that Jono has a face?"

"Oui Petite. An' de Professor has his sea legs back. How 'bout you?"

Jubilee sat back in her seat, her mouth forming a silent 'O' as her jaw hung slack. Her eyebrow crept upwards and she looked down her body, checking to see that everything was where it should be. Nervously she flexed her fingers and toes and grimaced. "Um…I think everything's where it should be…not really sure about the inside stuff…" With that, her eyes rolled up and she lost consciousness again.

XXXxxxXXX

Back at the Mansion in New York State, Emma peered in through the window of the Isolation Chamber where Hank was busy instructing Jono to stick out his tongue and say 'aaah'. On the beds on either side, Charles and Jubilee were watching on in mild shock as the normally morose Englishman grinned widely and stuck out his new tongue as far as it could go.

"Well?"

"They are fine." Jean murmured in a surprised and slightly mystified tone. "Absolutely, perfectly fine. Charles is Charles and Jono is Jono and Jubilee is most definitely Jubilee. Their psychic imprints are exactly as they should be. Jubilee seems to be drained of power and energy – with no explanation, but other than that…Look for yourself."

Emma gave a brief shake of her head and rested her fingertips at the bottom of the glass window pane. "And they have no idea how this happened?"

"None." Sean murmured beside her. "They were gone for a long time, Emma. Whatever was done, they had plenty of time to do it to them. Mebbie whatever it was used Jubilee's powers?"

Jean shrugged helplessly. "That's as good a reason as any of us have been able to come up with. Jubilee seems unharmed by it all aside from the exhaustion."

The girl in question caught sight of the trio staring at them and gave a tired but sarcastic smile and wave.

"And she hasn't changed a bit." Emma announced with mock brightness as Sean slipped into the room to join Hank. "Is he sure they are ok to come back to the school?"

Jean took a steadying breath and nodded. "Yes. I don't think they should, but he overrode me. Since all the psy scans were conclusive that nothing has interfered with their minds and Jubilee is all there…they are going. I'm not happy, but at least they are coming back here in a week or so."

"Where is Logan?"

Jean blinked at the sudden change of topic and leant against the window. "Where else?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "Canada." It was typical. The moment something went up the creek for him, he turned tail and ran.

"Aha. He sulked after their little spat and the minute he heard they were coming to live here he fled. Hasn't been seen since. I think Charles said he might come back in the next week or so. I'm not sure…"

"I would hardly call it a spat, Jean. I heard Jubilee completely dismantled his bike before she left. That was a full blown hissy fit. Does anyone know what he said to her?"

Jean braced herself and answered "He refused to let her come with him on a trip. Told her he wouldn't bring a child where he was going. As you can imagine, she let him know exactly what she was thinking."

Both women winced, knowing full well how acidic the bubbly teenager's tongue could be when provoked, and Logan calling her a child would do just that. As they watched on, Jubilee curled up on the bed and closed her eyes, falling asleep quickly.

"Why on earth would he say that?"

Jean shrugged, turning away from the window. "I'm not sure…but I think he's afraid."

"Of Jubilee?"

"Of losing her."


	4. The Journey Home

**_I am a complete review hog...I love'em...remember that, please :)_**

"This is gonna hurt, isn't it…" Jubilee screwed up her eyes and turned her head away as Jono and Angelo picked up her suitcase and put their shoulders to it as they attempted to jam it into the back of the car. It still wouldn't fit.

"Sorry, Jubes, but it's gonna have to stay here." Angelo muttered resignedly, letting the case fall to the ground. Jubilee's head snapped around at the sound and she shook her head, her black locks flying.

"You didn't just do that. Tell me you didn't just drop my suitcase on the ground." She warned him darkly, advancing with her hands outstretched.

"It's just a suitcase, Jubes, chill." He rolled his eyes as she dropped to her knees and grabbed the toggle of the zip, frantically opening it up. She rifled through the contents for a few moments before coming out with a handful of broken glass, murder in her eyes.

"It's only just a suitcase with all my _FRAGILE THINGS IN IT! _God! I bring one suitcase with me and you bring three and _still_ you manage to mess things up!" She muttered murderously. "This was a present from ORORO!"

He covered his head with his arms as the spray part of a perfume atomiser sailed towards his head.

"Jubilee!"

Jono rolled his eyes and pointed at the car. "Jubilee, I'll put it on the roof rack." He went down on one knee to help shake the glass from the clothes. "There'll be room there."

Jubilee didn't answer him, her lower lip jutting out as she withdrew another perfume bottle and two small china figurines wrapped in socks. As he took the perfume bottle from her, he turned it over in his hands. "Eh, Jubes…why did you keep an empty bottle?"

"It wasn't empty when I put it in there!" She proclaimed angrily, moving aside a handful of tops to reveal a puddle of very expensive liquid. "That, Angelo, was a present from Logan!"

Sean emerged from the garage, ready to ask if they were ready, and immediately realised they weren't. "What's going on? You three were supposed to be ready to go ten minutes ago? Angelo…why are you hiding behind the car?"

Jubilee snatched a lacy chemise from Jono's hand and stuffed it back in the case, zipping it shut angrily. "_Somebody_ decided they wanted to bring their _empty_ fish tank with them, even though he was _told_ it would take up too much room. Then _somebody_ tried to stuff my bag inside the car, when you couldn't fit a Chihuahua inside! _Then _he decided to drop the damned thing onto the ground, breaking _my stuff!_" She fumed, grabbing the handle and dragging it back to the car. Jono moved to try to help her, but stepped back as she swung it off the ground and up onto the roof rack. It was a testament to how angry she was that the five foot nothing, ninety pound teenager managed to get a suitcase that size and weight up that high.

"Angelo…maybe you should go in the car with Paige and the others, an' Sean come with me and Jubes…?"

Angelo nodded, keeping an eye on Jubilee as she rifled through the back seat of the People Carrier and emerged with a backpack. Sean was about to disagree when Jubilee fired Angelo's backpack at his chest, the impact making the Latino stagger backwards. "Get. Out. Of. My. Sight." She warned darkly, pointing a shaking finger at him. "GO!"

After another twenty minutes, they finally got onto the road, Jubilee snuggled in the back seat amongst yet more bags, a pillow and a blanket. Across her lap sat a tray she had snagged from the kitchen, making a makeshift table.

"Right, you ok back there Jubes?" Sean asked, getting into the drivers seat and slamming the door shut.

"I'm fine." Jubilee announced, and he turned in the seat to look at her, letting out a soft sigh. "What? I'm fine! I just went to the bathroom, I've got food, drinks and stuff to amuse myself. And Angelo isn't in here, so it's all good." She continued frankly, holding up her iPod and patting her laptop.

"You are sure? It's a long drive ahead of us." Sean warned carefully.

"It's 3 and a half hours, barring traffic Sean." She growled back, flapping her hand at him. "I'm fine. It's Jono you should be worried about."

Sean turned to look at Jono as he hurriedly had a last cigarette before they began to drive. "Dare I ask why?" He turned back to find her staring at him incredulously. "What?"

"Sean…he's got a mouth now." Jubilee waited for realisation to dawn on him, only to have him stare at her blankly. "He's like, put on six pounds already! What goes in must go out at some point. His body isn't used to having to go any more…so he has to go a lot more often. If he isn't careful, he's gonna get diabetes or something. You thought I was bad with the jolt cola, he's fifty times worse!"

Sean grunted and turned back to face the steering wheel, fastening his seatbelt. He rolled down the window and stuck his head out. "Starsmore, get your arse in here now! We're not hanging around for you to kill yourself with that damned cigarette!"

Jubilee settled back against her pillow as they drew out of the driveway, and silently said goodbye to her home for the past four and a half years. The removal trucks carrying the majority of their belongings had gone the day before, leaving them to bring the forgotten and fragile items, and those precious to all. The 'school' was locked up; furniture covered with dust sheets and potted plants placed outside for the elements to take care of. She seriously hoped that Ororo wouldn't ask what they'd done with them. The thought brought a small smile to her face as she watched the scenery flash past and she turned her attention back to the laptop, quietly typing away.

"Wotcha doin?" Jono asked finally as the tapping began to get on his nerves.

"Typing." She murmured absently, chewing at her nail as she tried to think of what to write next.

"I got that, luv, but _what_ are you typing?" Jono barely refrained from snapping.

"I'll show you when I'm done." She gave him a quick, genuine smile, reassuring him that she would actually show him when she was done. "Promise. I just don't want anyone to see it until I'm happy with it."

Sean's fingers tightened around the wheel and he looked at her through the rear view mirror. "So long as it isn't illegal." He commented, huffing a laugh.

"Moi?" She flashed a brilliant smile at him and waited for his attention to drift back to the road before she began to type again, trying to be quieter.

An hour later, true to Jubilee's prediction, Jono began squirming in his seat, and finally asked Sean to pull over at the nearest rest stop. Or bush. Sighing, Sean steered the car into the nearest gas station and watched Jono hop out and run for the building. "Ok lass, you were right." He murmured, undoing his seat belt. "Do you want anything insi…" he trailed off when he saw her head lolling back against the pillow, the slackness of her jaw indicating that she was fast asleep. The laptop had already been shut down and set aside, and her legs were tucked up beside her, covered by a small fleece blanket she had insisted on bringing with her.

"Poor girl." He whispered softly, reaching out and tucking it more securely around her. Jean and Beast had been spot on when they'd told them that she would sleep more often than usual. In the week it took to pack up and organise the move, he'd found her sleeping in the oddest of places, once head first in a box of books she'd been packing. She'd fallen asleep in the middle of dinner several times; fast reactions from Paige and Monet stopping her from ending up face first into her meal. Emma's reaction to the situation had surprised him, especially when he'd caught her carrying her into the girl's room early one evening, an almost tender look on her normally austere face. He'd stepped into the shadows and watched her tuck the teenager in, slipping her shoes off and making sure she was completely covered before retreating silently from the room, pausing only to turn off the light.

They'd all kept a close eye on the pair for most of the week, and were now beginning to relax. Neither had shown any outward strangeness that indicated that anything truly dangerous had gone on in the underground caverns. Nothing that raised the hair on the backs of their necks…aside from Jubilee's lethargy and Jono's newfound exuberance for living, eating, sleeping, drinking, smoking…

Jono came back to the car quicker than Sean had expected, and watched as the red-haired Irishman gently moved a lock of hair from her face as he watched her sleeping.

//Wot's up?// He asked silently, so as not to disturb Jubilee.

//Nothing, Jono. We'd best get back on the road.//

Jono waited until they were back on the highway before turning to look at his teacher/team leader properly.

//You're worried about her?//

Sean's fingers tightened imperceptibly on the wheel, but he glanced over at the Englishman and shrugged. //A wee bit, I'll admit. But no more than we're worried about you.//

//It's my fault she's like that.// Jono sighed, angling the mirror in the sun visor so he could see her face.

"What?" Sean's head jerked around to look at him, and he quickly pulled over onto the hard shoulder. //What?//

//It's obvious, Cassidy. Whatever did this-// he gestured jerkily to his mouth //to me, and to Xavier, obviously took something from her to do it. She can barely make a paff. Hell, she can barely stay awake for moren' three hours at a time. If we hadn't been there, she'd have been fine.//

Sean shook his head swiftly, glancing behind him to make sure Jubilee was still slumbering. //Lad, do you honestly think if given the chance, Jubilee would take her mutant powers and energy over giving you back your face? Or Charles's ability to walk? Do you?//

Mutely, Jono shook his head, hunching in on himself.

//Lad, don't take this all on your shoulders. Whatever went on at that temple, it wasn't your fault. Or Xavier's, or Jubilee's. We don't know why it happened. We don't know who did it. God, I wish we did, then we'd know if we had anything to worry about in the future. But right now, I think you should keep looking at the positive in this…thing. You and Charles are both healthy and in full operating condition. Jubilee is getting better. Even Beast thinks she'll be back to herself in another week or so.//

Jono didn't answer him, and Sean gave a brief shake of his head, carefully guiding the car back out into traffic. After a few minutes they heard a small snort and Jubilee woke up with a start. "Are we there yet?"

* * *

Emma and Jean watched as the dark red people carrier pulled up in front of the mansion and disgorged a frazzled looking Sean and a bouncy Jubilee. Emma fought hard not to smile as Sean glared at Jono, his face almost as red as his hair.

"Jubilee, your room isn't ready yet, so you'll have to bunk in with Paige until it's finished. I'm afraid you are on a sofa-bed." Jean announced, trying to forestall any arguments between the three of them. It was a long journey for any of them to be cooped up in a small space together, and even Emma's car had produced several small tiffs, mostly between Paige and Angelo.

Jubilee rolled her eyes but shrugged. "Fine. I suppose she's already up there?"

Jean nodded and Jubilee reached up to grab her suitcase from the roof rack, quickly untying the bungee cords that were holding it in place. Jono carefully nudged her out of the way and fastened his hands around the handle. "I'll take it, luv. It's heavy."

Jubilee's face immediately darkened and she put her hands on her hips. "Hey!"

"Jubes, the only way you put it up there in the first place was because you were shaking with anger. Adrenalin an' all that. I'm not a chauvinist, but it's bloody heavy, so let me take the damned thing so you don't put a disc out in your back or something before you even get a chance to try on your new uniform!" He stressed, dragging it down and trying unsuccessfully to plant it gently on the ground.

They both winced at the sound of broken glass and Jubilee's mouth firmed into a thin line. "That's ok, Jono. I can take it from here. Thank you." She said in a thin voice, grasping the handles and lugging it towards the front door. As she passed, both women heard her mutter 'no point unpacking it, it's all destroyed anyhow', and Jean grimaced, turning on her heel and following the teenager inside.

"Let me." She quickly levitated it and threaded her arm around the much shorter girl's shoulder, guiding her towards the stairs. "What happened?"

Jubilee's lower lip had already begun to quiver mutinously and she gave a small sniff. "We were told to bring everything important and breakable with us in the cars, so I packed all my breakable and important stuff in the suitcase. Then Angelo decided to try to stuff it into the back of the car when there was no room."

"And he broke some stuff?"

"Everything." Jubilee stuck out her jaw in an effort not to get more upset. By the time they reached Paige's room, Jubilee had gotten her traitorous emotions back in check and Jean carefully placed the bag down on the bed and unzipped it. A strong stench of mixed perfumes hit her nose and she blinked as her eyes began to water. "Oh…"

"Yeah." Jubilee grumbled, grabbing a bin and placing it beside the case. She began to carefully withdraw items of clothing, unfolding them over the bin so that the shards of broken glass and ceramic could fall inside. "Basically every bottle of perfume you, 'Ro and Rogue have given me, the figurines that Logan brought me back from Madripur, that cute little knickknack Bishop gave me for my sweet sixteenth…" She growled and dumped a silk top in the bin. By the time Paige arrived to lay claim to a major part of the closet, Jubilee and Jean had dumped half of Jubilee's clothing that was beyond salvage.

"Woah." The Kentuckian blurted out and Jubilee crossed her eyes at Jean, making her laugh.

"Yup. Say, if you want to be nice to me, you could arrange a hit on Angelo." Jubilee announced blithely, standing up to throw the suitcase into the corner. "I'll be your friend. Pleeeeease?" she pressed her hands together and batted her eyelashes at the blonde, making Paige laugh.

"I'm afraid you can't afford my services." Paige shook her head apologetically. "C'mon, we need to start unpacking."

"And that's my cue to leave." Jean smiled, giving Jubilee a quick hug. "I'll see you two for dinner."

Paige said nothing as Jubilee began to unpack, leaving the majority of her belongings in bags stacked at the end of her bed. "I'll do the rest whenever I get my own room." She smiled, giving an apologetic shrug. "Sorry about the mess. I know you were looking forward to having your own room and all…"

Paige paused in the middle of hanging up a coat and stared at Jubilee. "Are you feeling ok?"

Jubilee sat down and nodded. "Yeah. I am. I'm actually feeling pretty good. Why?"

"Six months ago, you would have been rubbing it in my face that I had to share with you, and you probably would have been harping on about how you'd been promised your own room. What gives?" Is this a change from the Temple? She added silently in her head.

Jubilee heard the unasked question and gnawed on the side of her thumb. "I don't know. It just doesn't seem as important. Although I just lost my rag with Ange just because he broke some things. That's weird, isn't it? I mean, I've never been upset about belongings before...Weird..."

Paige blinked and gave her a tiny smile, turning back to her closet, hanging up a coat. //Jean, Emma?//

She sent the thought out into the mansion, and it only took a few moments for the tickle at the back of her mind to announce the presence of both telepaths answering her call.

//You said if we noticed anything strange about Jubilee, Jono or the Professor that we were to tell you immediately…//

Emma nodded, sitting down on the tail gate of the people carrier, the box she was holding held tightly in her hands. //go ahead Paige//

Paige couldn't quite put it into words, but as her hands smoothed out the fabric of the coat in what Jubilee took to be an OCD moment, she quietly replayed their conversation in her mind, trying to keep her feelings out of it. When she had finished, Emma nodded and quietly thanked her.

"What was that about?" Sean asked, taking the box from her hands.

"Just something Paige wanted." Emma's smile was slightly brittle and she quickly stood, dusting off her white cat-suit. It wasn't long before they had the rest of the boxes stored in the basement of the mansion and the boys returned to their own rooms to sort things out.

Charles wasn't quite hiding in his study while all that was going on, but he did lay low for a few hours, keeping out of everyone's way. When all the hustle and bustle had died down, and the frantic jangling of psychic nerves as the adults tried to adjust to having so many more youths around and the youths tried to make the adults butt out of their business had eased, he emerged from his sanctuary and sought out Jono and Jubilee.

Jono was easy to find. He'd been given a room in the attic, far from Ororo and her solitude, and Charles had happily paid to sound proof the space, judging it would pay in the long run when Jean, Scott and himself would not have to deal with the arguments that would arise from the Englishman's penchant for playing death metal music at 1 in the morning.

The former mute smiled at him and kept assembling his sound system with an amused twinkle in his eyes. "Storm's already been up to warn me, Professor. Don't worry, I'll keep the sound down to an acceptable level. I promised…well, she threatened to fry me if she heard a peep, so to keep the lady happy, I'll keep the noise down."

Charles laughed softly and sat on the end of the bed. "That is appreciated. Ororo can get quite vocal when annoyed."

"Forget vocal, I just don't want the luvvie to flash fry me with lightning. I'm a bit too close to the roof for that, if you know what I mean." Jono flicked his eyes up to the eaves and Charles's smile increased.

"I understand, Jonothan. Are you happy with your room?"

Jono looked around, slightly surprised at the question, and nodded. "Yeah. It's pretty tight, Professor. Lots of room for me stuff, and enough sockets fer me instruments. I'll be pretty happy up here, I think."

"If you need anything-"

"Go to Jean for the small stuff, you for the big stuff. Got it…sir."

Charles smiled and stood, leaving Jono to his wires. Jubilee was slightly harder to locate. He'd gone to the room she was sharing with Paige, only to find it empty of people – though not of belongings. Though neither girl was a pack rat, and the room was large enough, the suitcases still stacked at the end of the fold-out couch was a testament to the fact that Jubilee's room truly needed to be finished. Having searched the rest of the normal hangouts for the younger members of the teams, he found himself gravitating towards her old room in the hopes of finding her, but with little success. That room was the one that was in the midst of being refurbished, and if she could manage to get through the maze of tape, wood and machinery, he would have to revise his already high opinion of her gymnastic skills.

The door to the room was still firmly locked, though, and it was only after he had quietly thumped the door frame with his fist, that he realised that the door directly opposite the room was ajar. Logan's door, to be precise.

"Jubilation?" He asked quietly, pushing the door open enough so he could look inside. To his surprise, it was empty, but a set of dog tags sitting on Logan's dresser showed that a certain young female had definitely been in there…and that all hope for the rift in their relationship to be mended was not lost. In the end, he tracked her down in the kitchen, head deep inside the fridge as she rummaged for something she would deem edible.

"Jean, if that's you, we so need to go grocery shopping. Who was dumb enough to let Ororo go shopping?"

Charles started to chuckle and Jubilee jerked her head back, staring at him with a measure of quiet resignation. "I should have known."

Smiling widely, he pulled up a stool and listened to her chatter as she set about making a sandwich. Out of all of them, she was the only one that would talk to him about something as trivial as the latest episode of a daytime soap.

* * *

Leaving the kitchen and a laughing Professor behind her, Jubilee emerged out into the mansion proper and decided to try to touch base with as many X-Men as she could, reacquainting herself with them, so to speak.

Wandering aimlessly through the lower halls, she realised that the place was practically silent; signalling that there was either a mission on or everyone was busy attending to their own lives. She caught the tell tale scent of expensive cologne and followed her nose down to what had been affectionately nicknamed 'the wee den', a leftover from the first time Sean had lived at the mansion. It was quite a small room, considering the size of the others available, and contained only a small screen mounted onto the wall, a mini-fridge in a press and a small sound system in the corner. The rest of the room was taken up with comfortable chairs and footstools, creating an inviting little nook that was really only used in the winter when the mansion inhabitants were inclined to hibernate.

Leaning against the door frame she smiled with amusement when she saw who was currently sprawled across the long sofa, one arm resting across his eyes.

"Hey, Remy, long time no see."

There was no answer, and she briefly considered jumping on top of him to wake him up, only to dismiss the idea as one that would probably get her killed.

"Reeeemmmmmy…." She crooned from her place by the door, and when she again got no reaction, she crept closer, nudging the foot dangling over the carpet. "Oooooh Reeeeemmmmy…." Again, there was nothing, and spying a discarded marker on the floor, she inclined her head to the side, contorting her body so she could see his face. "Oh, man, you really had a job done on you, didn't you?" She started to laugh, covering her mouth and sat down on the coffee table as uncontrollable giggles made her shake. Remy's eyes opened to slits and he pulled down his arm to look at her properly.

"Petite, why you laughin' like dat?" He asked in confusion, blinking sleepily.

"Tell me Remy; were you on a bender last night?" She tried unsuccessfully to control her laughter, but it bubbled up out of her in waves. Remy shifted uncomfortably and sat up properly, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

"Had a bit to drink, alright, but nothing too wild. Why, Petite?"

Jubilee bit the skin on the inside of her mouth and shook her head, leaning forward to give him a tight hug. "Nuthin' Cajun. So, how are you?"

Remy shrugged, returning her hug with gusto and looked her up and down. "I'm fine, Jubilee. I've not seen you in so long, I tink you gone and grown up on me. Ok, what's de joke here? Why you laughin'?"

Jubilee struggled to straighten her face and finally gave up, walking to the door. "I'll talk to you later, Rem …you might want to check a mirror, and then kill whoever you went drinking with last night."

Remy watched her leave, his eyebrows knitting together, and when his curiosity finally got the better of him, he looked in the nearest mirror.

"Merde! BOBBY!"

Jubilee was still laughing when she returned to the kitchen, and Jean looked up from chopping vegetables to see who had just breezed through the doors.

"Hi Jean." Quickly washing her hands, she hopped up onto a stool and grabbed a knife, beginning to attack a carrot. "What are you making?"

"Just a quick stew." Jean watched Jubilee skilfully julienne the orange vegetable into strips and frowned. "I swear you've hung around with Remy too much." She muttered, gesturing with the peeler. "You are too good at that."

"He's a good chef. And I actually learned how to do this at the school. We all had to learn how to cook. It was either that or have to eat Frost's dubious delicacies. Speaking of Remy," Jubilee's lips twisted into a wide grin and she grabbed another carrot, quickly stripping the outer layer off with the knife, "have you seen him today?"

Jean shook her head. "Why?" spotting Jubilee's smile, her eyes quickly narrowed, "Do I even want to know?"

"Who did he go drinking with last night?"

Jean put down the potato and the peeler and leant on the counter. "Scott, Hank and Bobby. What happened?"

"One of the hapless trio has given him a makeover. Clark Gable moustache, lipstick, eyeliner and a little beauty spot, all done with a black marker." Jubilee sniggered. "If we have to go on a mission, the opposition will laugh themselves into submission. We could bring popcorn."

Jean sighed and began to peel the last potato, pursing her lips together. "I was wondering why Hank was laughing this morning. I didn't think the financial times was that amusing. Did you tell him?"

"Of course. I'm not that cruel. I even didn't laugh in his face…much."

* * *

Angelo was mystified when Remy passed him in the corridor. "Uh…Gambit…Do you know you have-"

"Oui!" Remy snapped, disappearing into the lift that would bring him down into the base.

"Okaaaay…" Angelo shrugged and put back in his ear phones, thumbing down through his iPod until he reached the song he wanted. He was at a bit of a loss as what to do with himself. He'd unpacked and straightened his room, taken a shower, moved his things around again and was now wandering aimlessly through the halls looking for something to amuse himself with. So far, he had found nothing, and he idly wondered if he should perhaps take up a hobby. At least when he was at school, he'd usually had a punishment exercise or projects to keep him amused – or to provide an added incentive to find something more interesting to do. Maybe he should take Frost up on her offer to do some 3rd level academics…but that would lead to more decisions and he couldn't get his head in the right place to do that right now. Everett had taken a few months off and was now back with his family, pretending to be normal. While the rest of them had politely declined the offer when it had been made, Angelo now felt a yearning to go back home and check up on his mother and siblings. He hadn't seen or heard of them in so long, he was beginning to get worried.

Several hours of deep thought later, he came to a decision, brought to a head when he found Jubilee sitting on the stairs fast asleep, her head resting against the railing as she slept silently.

"Geeze, chica, how long have you been there?" He asked her softly as he crouched down beside her.

"Angelo?" A genteel voice whispered softly, and Angelo looked up to find Beast standing at the top of the steps, looking concerned.

"Chica's tired." He murmured, gently threading his arms underneath her shoulders and knees and cradling her to his chest. She slumbered on, undisturbed and he gave a wry smile. "She's been doing that a lot lately. Not so much in the last couple of days, but the tiredness gets the better of her sometimes. I found her at the washing machine last Sunday, with her head pillowed on a wet sheet still inside the drum. And she's gotten a face full of food more than once."

Hank 'hmmmed' and walked with him to the room Jubilee was sharing with Paige. "I haven't seen you all day, Doc," Angelo murmured as Hank pulled back the covers and helped Angelo unlace Jubilee's boots.

"Yes, well…" Beast blushed slightly and shrugged. "I'm afraid that some of us went to a bar last night with Remy, and we might have…"

"Given him a moustache? I saw. So, you've been hiding from him?"

Hank grinned, revealing his pointed incisors and laughed softly, tucking the covers around Jubilee. "Perhaps. And yourself, what have you been doing today?"

Angelo shrugged, watching Jubilee snuggle down into her pillow and turn over onto her side, one hand slipping inside the pillowcase as she sought something few in the mansion knew she possessed. "Not much, unpacking, mostly. Started looking for people a while ago, but there's not much going on in here."

Hank smiled genially as Angelo switched off the light and closed the door silently. "True. Things have been quiet here of late. With Logan gone, and Bishop and Storm visiting with Excalibur, it has been much more…lonely." He led the way back down the stairs, and when Angelo drew up beside him, he placed a large paw-like hand on the grey-skinned mutant's shoulder. "The last I saw of Robert, he was hiding from Gambit in the lower levels. Would you like to accompany me to find him? I believe the room he is currently inhabiting may contain alcohol…and snacks!"

Angelo laughed softly at Hank's invitation. It was well known that Bobby and Hank had had some pretty strenuous drinking sessions in 'a room unknown' in the depths of the lower levels. And the snacks were more than likely twinkies and chocolate. "Sure, senor. I'd like that."

He was surprised when Hank brought him into the main lab, placing a finger over his lips, and led the way into the smaller of the two store rooms that mainly housed equipment. Moving aside a tall piece of machinery that was on wheels, he revealed a hidden panel, and quietly pushed on it. "Do you know, in all my time here, only a small few have ever stumbled upon this room by accident? Very few even know of its existence. Logan, of course is one. He has a highly developed nose…he identified the scent of alcohol and merely followed it to find us…slightly inebriated."

Bobby looked up at Hank's voice, relaxing when he saw Angelo. Giving him a quick smile, he went back to reading his comic book with a quick wink. "I'll be with you two in a minute."

"Another, of course, is the Professor. And Bishop. And now, of course, you. Oh, I have forgotten Jubilation. She ferreted this place out in just under two weeks. She can be very sneaky when she puts her mind to it."

"Aaand, done!" Bobby closed the comic and set it side as Angelo took in the small room. It had three salvaged armchairs, one of which was oversized and covered in blue fur, and a low couch in the corner, patched, stained, and one end was covered in badly crocheted blankets that he could remember Jubilee making several years before as a 'winter project'. He'd never seen them again, and had assumed she'd discarded them. They had obviously found a home though, and he sank down onto the severely abused springs gratefully.

"Are there any ground rules I need to follow while I'm in here?" He asked as Hank retrieved two bottles of beer and handed one to Bobby. Clearing his throat theatrically, Bobby struck a pose, holding the bottle outstretched with his index finger pointing straight at Angelo's chest. "The first rule is, you do not talk about the location of the room. Rule number two - The second rule is, you DO NOT talk about the location of the room. Rule three - If someone says stop, goes limp, taps out, the drinking for them is over. If someone tells you stop, go limp, tap out, the drinking for you is over. No protesting. If you are not said unlucky man, you are, however are allowed to continue drinking as soon as you have made sure your drinking companion is in no danger of death…of any kind. Number four – You are not allowed to drink on your own. Hank is very strict on that. Five - One guy to a drink. Six - One drink at a time. Seven – Dead men tell no tales…read into that what you wish. Eight - Drinking will go on as long as it has to. Rule number nine is very important: Do not drink Logan's beer. His is always marked – he scores the top of each cap with a claw. Seriously, you don't want to see him pissed _and_ angry. And last but not least, Ten- If this is your first night at the room, you have to drink. Sorry man, but it's the law." He handed over the bottle with a grin and Angelo inclined his head in a gentle bow.

"Gracias, Bobby. I swear I will uphold all those rules. And you really have to stop watching Fight Club." He took a slow swig and clinked bottles with the two being held out towards him. "Nice."

An hour later, the three of them were happily playing video games on the large screen that covered one of the walls. After a while, Bobby confided in Angelo that they really didn't drink that much down in The Room, but it was mainly a place they could go and be as childish as they wanted without the others finding out. "A guy's gotta be a guy sometimes, you know?"

Angelo snorted and nodded, taking a sip from his beer. "I understand. There's being a guy, and then there's the being a guy who belches etcetera. Is Jubes the only woman?"

Hank smiled and nodded. "I like that you acknowledge that her years have advanced, Angelo. I was fearful that when you all returned, you would still be treating her as a child."

"Jubes sure as hell ain't a child." Bobby muttered, shifting in his seat. "None of 'em are."

The door opened quietly, and Jubilee eased inside, yawning. "Anybody know who put me to bed?" She asked with a yawn, flopping down into a chair and dragging one of the crocheted blankets over herself.

"That was us, Jubilation. We thought you would be more comfortable in your bed than on the stairs."

Jubilee shrugged and smiled her thanks. "What'ya'all doin'?"

"Talking. About this and that."

"Sometimes this, sometimes that." Bobby toasted the air and took a sip.

Rolling her eyes, Jubilee snuggled down against the cushions and closed her eyes. "Whatever. Wake me up if you get to something juicy."

It felt like much later that Angelo was left alone in the room with Jubilee. The others had decided to call it a night, leaving them alone and the youngster to get Jubilee up to her room. Sipping at a bottle, Angelo stretched out and let his skin sag, relaxing himself until he felt all the strain of controlling his mutation slip away. He watched her breathe gently and smiled. His Chica. His best friend. Little sister, whatever you wanted to call it. Call her.

Massaging his neck, he wondered what had been done to her in the temple. She was tired all the time…maybe the Elders and Betters were right. Whoever, or whatever did what they or it did, used her energy to do it. She hadn't changed. Much. And she was getting better, aside from her little blow up that morning. Sighing softly, he took another sip and began to think. She'd had it hard. What could he do to cheer her up…? Ah yes, his little revelation on the stairs.

"Ohhhhh sleeping beauty!"

Jubilee wrinkled her nose in annoyance, keeping her eyes firmly shut.

"Ohhhhh Chicaaaaa…."

"Ange, if you don't have a seriously good reason for waking me up, I'm gonna have a seriously good reason for blowing you up. What?"

"I have a cunning plan."

Jubilee opened her eyes to find herself nose to nose with her favourite grey-skinned Latino. Jerking backwards, she hit the cushions at the back of the couch and growled. "Easy there, Chica. No biting. Listen, I have a cunning plan."

"I heard you the first time, Stretch Armstrong. What?" She pushed him back and sat up, rubbing an eye with her fist.

"You an' me, we got nothin' to do right now, right? I mean, Ev decided to up and go back home for a while, Paige is doin' that distance learning thing, Monet is being Monet, but we've not really decided on what to do, right? And the Professor said he didn't mind if we did something other than be X'ers for a while…and it's only this one little thing, they can't possibly say no…"

Jubilee closed her eyes and rolled her hand around in a 'get on with it' gesture.

"How about you an' me go on a trip. Home."

Jubilee's eyes shot open and she stared at him with mild disbelief. "Home, as in LA?"

Angelo nodded vigorously. "Si, Mija. Home. What do you say? You and me, fly to LA, see each others old haunts, visit things…I can see my family, mebbie you can find Cynjen, relieve old times…what do you say, huh?"

"I say…Road Trip!"

_**Let me know if you like this or not, or if I'm doing anything you like or don't like. I'll take your criticism with a pinch of salt and try my best to make things better…**_

…_**.but I do hope you are liking this…**_

_**And I would like to thank FionaH for all her help with this story…**_


	5. Bikers from Hell Part I

The trip was going to hell. Or had already gone to hell and now they were on the return journey. They'd had a nice trip home so far; the usual pains like running out of gas because the fuel gauge on the car was broken; trouble finding a half-decent motel to stay in…and now this.

Jubilee's eyes widened as the huge group of bikes split to envelop the battered convertible, and her mouth suddenly went dry as she spotted a tail sneaking out from beneath the leather jacket of the man riding closest to her, who turned his head to grin at her, revealing pointed teeth and demonic red eyes; less friendly and more frightening than Gambit's had ever been.

"Easy Chica." Angelo put his hand over hers for a moment and gave it a brief squeeze. "Don't do anything stupid. Maybe they aren't looking for trouble."

Jubilee shook her head as the bikes ahead began to slow their pace, forcing Angelo to slow the car down to a crawl. "I don't think so Skin."

Angelo licked his bottom lip nervously and shook his head. He'd been looking at the biker riding closest to him and the mutant grinned down at him, twitching aside his leather jacket to reveal the butt of a handgun poking out of the waistband of his pants. "Jubes…they got guns too."

Nervously, she turned around in the open topped car, kneeling on the seat to look around at their new companions. The line of bikes, staggered the width of the road, went as far as she could see. Spaced out, there wasn't as many as they made it look, but a quick helmet count still made her blanche.

"Angelo, I think we're screwed." She muttered, fumbling for her cell phone, hoping to get a distress call out before she was spotted. Something flashed in front of her eyes and the phone was snatched from her fingers before she'd even managed to hit one number.

"Ah ah miss. Sit and be good." Red Eyes ordered, brandishing her phone with his tail before opening the throttle and gunning past the car.

"Ange, can I do something stupid now?" Jubilee asked nervously, looking down at Angelo. His lips firmed and he gave a curt nod as she delved inside her for the well of power she'd relied on for so long.

Angelo waited for the flash of light that would signal the use of Jubilee's powers only to hear a quick sucked in breath of air and a worried "Ange, we're in deep shit."

"What's wrong?" His fingers tightened on the steering wheel and he tried to tune out the heavy thrum of the engines as they ranged around the car, changing places with one another.

"No mojo. Someone or something is stopping my powers." She slid down in the seat until she was sitting, hugging her knees to her chest. "We are in a not good position right now."

Angelo blinked in shock and tried to stretch his skin, only to find it wouldn't budge an inch. "I don't think we'd have been able to do much anyhow hermanita. I count nearly thirty ahead of us."

"A bit more than that behind." She added, chewing on her lower lip. "You just had to do a road trip, didn't you Ange? We could have had an extra week in LA and flown home first class like we had planned but _you_ wanted to drive across America."

"Jubes! Now is not the time!" Angelo blurted out, his fingers gripping the wheel tightly as the wave of Bikers slowly guided them down onto a side road.

"I know Ange, and I won't say it again, but I needed to get that out of my system since I might not get a chance to say it later. Right, so…plan?"

"No plan yet. You?"

Jubilee closed her eyes as hooting cat-calls began to fill the air and a heavy feeling filled her chest. "Nada…Angelo, just…just in case…y'know…you've been a great friend." She fumbled for his hand and he gripped hers tightly.

"So have you, Chica. But we'll get out of this. We just go with the flow and see how things play."

They drove for an hour down the lonely road that slowly petered out into a dirt track, both of them getting more nervous as they moved further into the Utah wilderness.

"Angelo, I'm scared." Jubilee admitted finally in a broken whisper. The bikes kept changing places around them, and every couple of minutes someone or something would reach out to touch her, be it a hand or an extra limb, tentacles, tails…you name it, the bikers had it. She was practically sitting in Angelo's lap, moving further and further down the bench seat to get away from the roving hands. Angelo wrapped one arm around her and held her tightly, trying not to let his own fear show.

"We'll be ok, Chica."

Wild eyed, Jubilee shook her head. "No, Ange, I think you'll be ok. I don't think these guys go for the male side of the spectrum."

Indeed, most of the mutants had ignored Angelo, choosing instead to concentrate on harassing Jubilee. It worried him more than if they'd been at both of them. "I won't let them hurt you Jubes."

Jubilee gave him a wan smile as he tried to be heroic and gulped down a breath. "I don't think you'll have a choice in the matter. They're stopping."

Angelo cut the engine and let out a yelp as two strong hands descended grabbed his jacket and pulled him out of his seat. Jubilee tensed, waiting for the same treatment, only to have the guy who had grabbed her cell phone open the car door and reach for her hand, helping her out.

"Hold still." He warned her, producing a length of rope. He turned her around and fastened her wrists behind her back, and she was surprised by the gentleness he was displaying. "There now; weren't too bad, was it?"

Jubilee didn't trust herself to answer, but looked over to where Angelo was being roughly tied up. He met her eyes for a moment, warning her to behave herself and she took a breath and nodded. "Thank you for not hurting me."

The red irises flared outwards slightly in amusement and he clamped his hand on her shoulder, forcing her to walk forwards.

"Don't do no good to hurt the goods now, does it?" He chuckled as she stumbled on the uneven dirt.

"Nope." Jubilee retorted, unable to stop herself. "Who exactly are the goods for, anyhow?"

Red Eyes shrugged as she stumbled over a tree root and finally picked her up, slinging her over his shoulder. With a familiar pat on her rump that made her jerk, he grinned even more. "You'll both find out soon enough. We're waiting for the rest of the gang to arrive with the Boss. Those shoes you're wearin' ain't exactly practical now, are they?" He muttered, and she felt something fiddle with her feet before the three inch heels fell to the ground, leaving her in her socks.

"Sorry, man, if I'd known I'd be hiking I'da worn something a little more practical."

Red Eye grinned even more and slapped her rump hard enough to bruise. "No back talk, kid, otherwise the Boss will have to deal with goods that are slightly seconds."

With her head dangling down her back, Jubilee fought not to start struggling, knowing it would be useless. "Can I ask a question that won't get me killed?" She asked finally. Red Eye nodded and then remembered she couldn't see him. "What kid?"

"How are you blocking our powers?"

"That's none of yer nevermind. Now shut up." There was another hard slap and she bit her lip to keep the yelp from erupting from her lips. They hiked deeper into the forest, but Jubilee didn't dare lift her head to look around her. The swaying movement was making her feel ill, and she was worried she'd end up puking down the guy's back. Every once in a while she caught sight of Angelo's shoes behind her and she was relieved to see that he was still standing and still ok.

"Mr. Red Eyes?" she murmured finally, a plan finally forming in her mind. Red Eyes grunted in annoyance but grumbled "WHAT?"

"If you don't put me down in the next 30 seconds I'm gonna barf down your back. I don't think either of us want that so if you could just point me in the direction of the nearest bush-"

Red Eye quickly swung her down and pointed her off the trail while around them the others laughed as she emptied the contents of her stomach into the grass.

Gasping to get her breath back she turned her head to the side to see Angelo staring at her with concern. He looked none too worse for wear and she gave him a half smile of reassurance and a concealed wink.

Strong fingers laced into her hair and dragged her upright, yanking her head back until she was staring up into the demonic red eyes. "You sick?" He demanded angrily and she hurriedly shook her head.

"Motion sickness?"

When she nodded, he let go of her hair and left her kneeling there. After a few minutes, she realised his back was turned, and seizing the moment, she lurched to her feet and dashed for the bushes, hoping Angelo would understand why she was doing what she was doing.

A loud shout went up behind her, but she pressed on, not noticing the pain as she travelled over rocks and twigs in her bare feet. She kept running, changing direction, hiding behind bushes and finally, found a small overhang with a dead tree, squeezing her tiny frame beneath it. Her breathing sounded harsh in the enclosed space, and she tried her best to keep quiet as her fingers worked to try to free her hands. Surprisingly, the knots opened easily and she massaged her wrists, trying to work the blood back into her fingers. After a few minutes, she could hear twigs snapping around her, and she cowered back against the earthen bank behind her, eyes blinking in the half-light.

She stayed where she was until the noises moved away and finally crept out from her hiding place to find herself alone in the woods. Listening to the bird song, she sat on the tree, twirling the rope between her fingers as she thought hard, trying to work out what to do next. One good thing was that she thought fast on her feet, and quickly came to a decision, heading back the way she came.

Ghosting through the trees, she sent up a silent prayer of thanks for Wolverine's training sessions throughout her teenage years. The sessions where she was trained how to walk through the woods like a ghost. She'd never be as good as him, not in a million years, but she was good enough to walk past a group of red-neck bikers bickering by a large bush.

The car was where they'd left it, unguarded, and she narrowed her eyes when she saw the bikes that had been abandoned around the place. A quick check of the car located her cell phone, but the battery had been removed and she tossed it back onto the seat, looking around the grassy clearing with a cold, calculating expression.

Twenty minutes later, all the bikes had been immobilised and she had found a small arsenal of weapons in the saddlebags. She couldn't do much with them, and was loathe to carry one, no matter what was going down. She'd never been trained how to fire a gun, and had never had an interest in it. Taking all she could find, she opened the trunk of the cafr, dumping them inside and locking it. Good luck finding where she'd hidden them. After a quick change she was dressed in a sturdy pair of trainers. Her white top was swapped for a dark forest green one and she tied up her hair. If they wanted a fight, then they'd get a fight. Powers or no powers.

* * *

Angelo leant against the pole he'd been tied to in the centre of the camp, quietly trying to untie his hands. Jubilee had gotten away, thank god, but he wondered how much help she'd actually be against sixty plus mutants with guns. While he knew she was pretty capable on her own, he knew that if anything happened to her, Logan, Scott and the others would pretty much have his head.

Keeping his head low, he looked around the well organised camp, marking where things were. The inner compound was empty, but surrounded by small canvas tents and campfires with groups of bikers huddled around them. The ground had been recently scoured by fire, and in the centre, a much larger military style tent was planted. He could see through the open flap that it was empty, and dismissing it as unimportant, he turned his attention to the stack of beer kegs in the corner, guarded by 4 hard looking men.

A flash of movement caught his eye, and he turned angry eyes on the man who had been carrying Jubilee. The man was Hispanic, like himself, but there the similarities ended. In build he looked like Remy, tall – taller even than Remy, but well muscled; and he had a temper to rival Logan's. As Angelo watched, two men nervously approached the man who was the obvious leader and spoke quietly to him. A minute later, only one man was standing in front of him. The other…the other had just been incinerated by Red Eyes with one whispered word. "Burn."

Sucking in a deep breath, Angelo dropped his gaze down to the ground between his feet and closed his eyes, wondering if that was to be his fate. And wondering just what the man had done to deserve being set afire and burned until there was nothing left.

"Just find her!" Red Eyes roared and pushed the other man away with a look of disgust and pointed at another man. "Weasel, Kitkat, go with this moron and find the girl. If she gets to the authorities then everything we've done is for nothing!"

Spotting Angelo, he glared at the others in disgust, sending them scurrying away and crossed the compound to stand in front of him, staring down at the shorter man. "Hombre…"

Angelo looked up, his eyes burning with unrestrained anger.

"Don't worry. We'll find your little chica. And I'll keep her safe and sound." He took a startled step backwards as Angelo lunged for him, forgetting that the youth was tied to the pole. "Easy, hombre. Or I mightn't be able to keep you as safe as you'd like to be. Comprende?" As if to emphasise his point Red Eye's hand lashed out and caught him across the jaw, sending him sprawling backwards, only to be caught by his arms still being tied behind the pole. Angelo sank to his knees, reeling from the blow, and Red Eyes hunkered down in front of him, staring at his him, eyes unreadable. Reaching out, he tapped Angelo's cheek gently, a queer smile briefly twitching at his lips before his expression turned sour again. "Like I said, hombre, I'll take care of your chica. Good care of her."

* * *

In the trees beyond the tents, Jubilee crouched behind a stand of bushes, eyes hard. She'd seen Red Eyes punch Angelo and now her blood was boiling. How dare he lay a hand on her friend. Clenching her fists, she moved further back into the trees. Her only plan was to wait for just before dawn and ghost into the camp, untie Angelo and get the hell out of there. But until then, she had to remain unseen. And that meant not hanging out near the camp.

When she was far enough away, she turned her back on them and began to lope through the trees, keeping an eye out for the three men sent to look for her. As she made her way deeper into the forest, a strange feeling crept over her and she stopped moving, hiding within a bush and letting her training take over. Closing her eyes, she listened hard, and after a few moments her eyes snapped open again. Someone or something was close. After a few moments, a twig snapped behind her and she froze, balling her hands into fists again. If she was going to go down, then she was going to go down fighting.

"Here girlie girlie girlie girlie…." A man's voice called out, and Jubilee held her breath. They were nearly on her. She resisted the temptation to squeeze her eyes shut in the time honoured tradition of 'if I can't see them, they can't see me', and tensed. The man passed the bush she was hidden inside and a couple of steps past the bush he stood upright, looking around him with a predatory smile on his face. "Here girlie girlie girlie…if you come with ole' Weasel here, I'll make sure you don't get gang banged…." He called out in a sing-song voice. "Jus' you an' me out here kiddo. Jus' you an' me. We can have some happy time. You'd like that, wouldn't-"

He cut off as something launched itself at him and silently dropped to the ground, unconscious. Jubilee threw the rock she'd used to knock him out to the side and dusted off her hands with a snarl. "I'll gang bang you, you unwashed sonuvabitch."

A quick glance around showed she was still alone, and with a grin eerily reminiscent of Logan's, she set about undoing his zip and pulling his jeans down to his ankles. Midway down, she paused and raised an eyebrow, biting back a snort. What he'd been threatening wouldn't have done much harm, she thought to herself as she used his jeans to grab a bunch of poison ivy and stuffed it into his y-fronts. Tying his boots together, she tossed them over the highest branch she could see, eyes narrowing with satisfaction as they caught and dangled in the air. Her final act was to tie his hands together with his belt and grab a stick, driving it into the ground between the junction of his legs. Taking his pants again, she stuffed the pockets with more poison ivy and then used them to tie his legs together.

She was half tempted to stick around and watch him wake up, but she had things to do, team mates to save…

* * *

Kitkat knelt in the undergrowth, eyes closed as he listened to the woods around him. The birds were silent, but he didn't know if it was because of him, or if he was stumbling across his prey. This was one job he didn't like. He didn't like trekking through the woods – putting the wood skills his father had beaten into him into use, good or otherwise. But Red Eye had given him orders, and he'd followed Red Eye since he was eighteen years old.

Lifting his head again, he sniffed delicately at the air, his eyes snapping open at the faint hint of perfume that drifted past him. Oh yes, it was her. And his prey was walking straight into his trap. At least he'd get her before Weasel or Jake.

He stayed where he was until she ghosted past him and nodded in appreciation. If it hadn't been for her perfume, he'd never have known she was in the area. As it was, he found it difficult to track her through the early summer undergrowth. She left no tracks, no branch broken, no leaf disturbed. Her father must have been as good a teacher as his. He just hoped for her sake he was gentler in his methods.

The sound of his trap being sprung made him come out into the open, and two steps into the clearing, he realised that the girl had been setting her own trap. He neatly side-stepped the rock that was flung at his head and lashed out with his knife, feeling it snag against fabric, not flesh. Damn, the kid was definitely trained by someone who knew what they were doing.

XXXxxxXXX

Gritting her teeth, Jubilee lashed out with her fist, catching the idiot that had tried to trap her in the side of the face. This guy wasn't as stupid as the first one that she had found. This guy also had a long, snake-like tail which was proving hard to get around. In the end, it was her undoing as it twined around her neck and she ended up lying on her front with his knee in her back with both arms in a position that _really_ hurt.

Things went downhill from there. As she struggled fruitlessly against his iron-like grip, a strange feeling crept over her. Almost as if something was trying to make her body move without her agreement. Fighting against it took over her concentration, and by the time she won over her body again, her hands were tied behind her back and the guy had a good hold of her ponytail.

When Angelo saw her being dragged into the compound, he sagged against the pole. He'd hoped she'd managed to get to the road and find some help, but it was obvious that she'd decided to stick around and try to free him on her own. The unkempt biker dragged her closer and forced her to her knees near enough for him to see her eyes. And he could see pure panic in them as she struggled against his grip, trying to get to her feet as the other guy that had been sent to find her stumbled into the camp barefooted. He looked in pain and a trickle of blood down the side of his head told Angelo that Jubilee hadn't been as ineffective as he'd thought. She'd given them a run for their money at least.

As the men drew around her in a loose semi-circle, it suddenly it dawned on him exactly what had brought that look into her eyes. He'd seen it once before, in the Barrio, when a girl from their gang had been dragged into a rival gang's car. Her eyes had held that same haunted fear that Jubilee's held now. She knew exactly what was going to happen to her, and the idea of it terrified her…more than terrified her. There probably wasn't a word in any language that could correctly interpret the feelings that were running through her head.

He felt a strange feeling of pride as she kicked out at the man holding her, catching him square in the crotch before spinning on the ball of her foot and lashing out at another's knee. There was a loud crack and the guy went down with a cry of agony. Within a few moments, the amount of men surrounding her had doubled and harsh laughter and bets began flying about as she managed to keep a wide circle of space between herself and the others, striking with painful precision at those who were brave enough to approach her.

"What the hell is going on?" A loud voice snapped angrily, and the cacophony of voices died away. A path opened in the ring of men, and Angelo could finally see her again, hunched slightly over with her hands tied behind her back, her eyes wide, taking in every movement around her, prepared to strike at any sudden move. Red Eye strode through the crowd and deftly avoided her kick, grabbing her leg and neck so she couldn't fight without landing on the ground. Tightening his hand, he waited until she seemed to give up and let her foot drop. Without another word he began to drag her towards a tent.

That was enough for Angelo. He managed to loosen the gag enough to shout and jerked to his feet to see where she was being taken.

"Hang tight Mi Amore!" He yelled, "It'll be alright! You'll see. Don't do nothin' stupid!"

A fist flew out and caught his chin, sending him to the ground. Letting out a loud screech, Jubilee kicked Red Eye square in the face with a high kick and tried to run towards him, stumbling across the broken ground. A short stocky biker lashed out with his foot and took her legs out from under her, sending her crashing down onto the dirt. Winded, she could do nothing but wait for them to pick her up again, and she tensed, waiting for the inevitable pain to begin. She didn't have to wait long before the beating began.

"Stop!" Red Eye sent her a dirty look as he got slowly to his feet and watched the men draw back reluctantly. "Take her into my tent." He ordered gruffly, throwing a look towards Angelo. "And make sure the boy is tied up good and tight. That's the Boss Man's present for tomorrow night and I don't want 'im damaged before the Boss gets his hands on him. Anyone touches him and it's the Boss they answer to."

Angelo's eyes widened as he was pulled back to his feet and the ropes holding him tightened. Jubilee was lying still on the ground, but that was the least of his worries as the implications of what had just been said sank in.

**Thank you all for your lovely reviews. Sorry for the delays in posting the chapters, but this is one fic that is taking a lot out of me. I'm trying to make it good, so please bear with me :)**


	6. Bikers from Hell Part II

Red Eye watched Weasel and Kitkat drag the girl into his tent and secured the flap behind them when they left, warning them not to disturb him. Weasel shot him a leery grin and nodded knowingly as he left, scratching as he walked.

Finally alone, Red Eye shook his head and rolled his eyes. Jubilee had been thrown onto the floor in the centre of the large canvas tent, and she was concentrating on breathing more than anything else. Seeing that she wasn't going to do anything stupid for the time being, he sat down on his cot and began to rifle through her bag, snagging her purse and dragging it out.

"Well, what do we have here?" he began to pull bits of paper and plastic from different pockets and spread them out over his blanket. "So, are you Miss Wei Fong, aged 21, or are you Miss Wei Lee aged 20? Miss Kayo Te? Or perhaps you are Miss Jubilation Lee aged seventeen. I think I'm going to go with Jubilation Lee seeing as it's the most real looking of the lot. And what's this? Family photos…" He trailed off, his blood running cold as one of the photos caught his eye. It was a close-up of the girl aged a few years younger, and an older man on a sunny day, her arms slung around his neck as his reached up to clasp them loosely. They both looked happy, and she had a large cowboy hat sitting rakishly on her head, obviously not hers. But that wasn't what bothered him.

Falling to his knees, he shuffled forwards and crouched down to where she lay gasping, turning his head on its side to look at her properly. "Who is this? Girl, Who Is This!?" He demanded, pushing the photo in her face.

Jubilee opened one eye a crack and whispered "Wolvie…"

"Wolvie? Wolverine? _The_ Wolverine!?" Red Eye slumped backwards until he was sitting on his heels, his mind spinning as the girl nodded. "That…you…Jubilation Lee. Jub-a-fucking-lee! Shit!"

He pulled her upwards until she was leaning against his chest and took a surprisingly clean handkerchief out of his pocket. She jerked backwards as he cleaned away some of the blood that ran from her nose and mouth and then tucked an errant lock of hair behind her ear. "Well Jubilee, looks like you, me and your friend out there have gotten ourselves in a bit of a fix." He muttered, rocking her slightly. She'd taken a beating outside, and he was surprised she was still conscious enough to glare at him with disgust as he cradled her against him, thinking he was going to do something unspeakable to her. He was whispering quietly so as not to be heard by those outside the tent. "My name is Mitchell Diablo. I work for Nick."

Jubilee fought to keep track of the conversation but she heard the name and blinked. "Fury?" She whispered back, and Mitchell nodded.

"Si, Nick. Me an' Kitkat an' a few others are plants in this little gathering. These hombres are pretty bad news. They're planning a bit of trouble next month and this is their rallying point where their leader will hand out the finer details of their plan. Everyone involved is already here except for Boss Man and his gang and they are due to arrive tonight, and once he's here then the rally will begin."

"What's their trouble?"

"Overthrow the government. Or at least, kill the president." Mitchell murmured, moving backwards until he was leaning against the cot. Jubilee let out a cry of pain as he moved her and looked up at him apologetically.

"Don't worry, kiddo, they'll think we're having fun." He whispered, grabbing his canteen and holding it to her lips. She closed her mouth and moved her head away.

"No. I'll only throw it up." She cautioned him, letting her head sink back down against the leather.

Grimacing, he nodded and re-sealed it. "Ok. Well, once they are all rat-arsed drunk, one hell of a lot of SHIELD troops are gonna swoop through those trees and with any luck, they'll get the lot of 'em."

Jubilee nodded, but then shook her head and whispered. "How? I mean, they're mostly mutants out there from what I see? Won't there be too many powers to handle?"

Mitchell grinned. "Nah, kid. How do you think we got you? There's a little clear liquid with a name longer than your arm that I can't pronounce, but the guys in the lab call it 'Annul'. One of the patrons in the diner you were in slipped it into your drinks when you weren't looking. Nullified your powers for a while so we could get a 'present' for the Boss Man. A nice sacrifice for tomorrow night. Now, what do you think is in those kegs of beer out there?"

Jubilee huffed a laugh and immediately regretted it as her back and ribs– mostly her ribs protested. "That's a nice dastardly plan you got. Dum Dum?"

Mitchell shook his head. "No, Duggan didn't dream this one up. I did actually. There's also a little something in there to make 'em a bit more cooperative. To add to that, I ordered everyone to leave their guns with their bikes. They got their knives an' all, but there shouldn't be too much resistance. Do you think you can hold tight until tonight?"

Jubilee nodded but suddenly blanched. "Hey! If I'm not the present, then it's Angelo!" She shouted Angelo's name and struggled to get out of his arms, forgetting she was still tied up.

"Easy kid. I said Easy!" He grabbed her arm roughly and pinned her to the floor, straddling her to keep her in place just as Weasel pushed aside the tent flap and poked his head in. Seeing Diablo on top of her as she struggled, his lecherous grin widened.

"Everything alright in here sir? Only if you need help, me and the boys would be more than happy to help."

The smile slid from his face as the demonic eyes turned towards him and flashed in their sockets. Stumbling back, Weasel gulped as Diablo roared at him to get out and not disturb them again.

Beneath him, Jubilee trembled, and sagged with relief as his weight left her and he crossed to the tent flap, pushing the underling outside. She fell mute with shock as Mitchell burst into flame and roared "THE NEXT MAN TO INTERRUPT ME WILL BURN! The girl is mine! Anyone but me touches her and you will burn!" To emphasise his words, he looked at the nearest tree and narrowed his eyes until it burst into flame. The sixty or so bikers paled and nodded as he stalked back into the tent

"Thank God there's not a telepath or a brain cell among'em." He grumbled, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her onto the cot. "Listen, kid, you're going to have to work with me here, otherwise I'm not gonna be able to do squat for you or your buddy out there. Tell me, how good an actor are you?"

* * *

Angelo huddled against the pole he was tied to, desperately trying to get the sound of the cries that had come from Red Eyes tent out of his head. Nobody had touched him once they'd tied him to the pole and gagged him, and for that, he was eternally grateful. He knew that whatever Jubilee was going through, it would be his turn whenever 'Boss Man' turned up.

Red Eye had left his tent a few minutes before and was walking around the camp, making sure everyone was behaving themselves and not drunk yet. Angelo followed his path as he walked, noting the position of the barrels of beer that were stacked in the corner of the camp with two hard looking men guarding them.

While Red Eye's back was turned, the small weedy guy that had brought Jubilee into the tent snuck back inside, pulling the flap down behind him, hiding his movements. Finally, Red Eye's circuit of the camp ended with him, and Angelo focused his eyes on the boots standing in front of him.

"Well, kiddo, I think you're going to enjoy tonight." He crouched down and patted him on the cheek. Angelo jerked his head away and looked back at the tent Jubilee was being kept in frantically trying to loosen his bonds so he could get to the tent..

Diablo spotted the utter fury in Angelo's eyes and ducked his head down to look underneath his outstretched arm, following the boys line of sight.

"Someone else in there boy?" He asked. Angelo nodded and Diablo gave a pissed sigh. "Damnit, that kid is hard work." Spotting Angelo's face go even darker, he patted the boy's cheek again and shook his head. "Get yer mind out of the gutter, kiddo. Fury'd have my hide if I let anything too bad happen to her." He patted the top of Angelo's head and swung around, stalking towards his tent.

Angelo held his breath, waiting for what would happen next, and he wasn't disappointed when Weasel was thrown from the tent. Diablo stood in the entrance and stared at the weedy little man and narrowed his eyes as Weasel frantically tried to move backwards on his elbows, his mud-caked jeans bunched around his ankles, his skin red raw.

"Do you remember what I said?" Was the only thing that the hulking 6 foot 2 man shouted as he advanced on the now blubbering man. Within seconds, Weasel was engulfed in a pillar of flames which flared up briefly and then died down to leave nothing but a patch of scorched earth and ash.

Letting his eyes travel around the camp, Diablo let his message sink in once more and disappeared back into the tent.

In the deathly silence that descended on the camp, Angelo slumped back against the pole, shaking his head. Did Red Eyes just say Fury?

* * *

It was near midnight when the roar of engines approaching made everyone perk up. They'd all left their bikes further down the trail where there was more room, so the engines could only mean one thing. The Boss Man had arrived. There was no way he'd walk that far.

Angelo tensed as they lined up to welcome him, and afterwards everyone settled down for the party. The kegs were opened and soon everyone had a drink in their hands. After a few minutes, Red Eye and Boss Man walked up to the pole and stared down at Angelo.

"For me? Aaah, Red, you shouldn't have!" The Boss Man was as tall as Red Eye, much older and even more heavily built, and there was no sign of a visible mutation as he took a slug from the tankard. Inwardly, Diablo relaxed. All it took was one sip of the beer for the drugs to take effect and now he could bring the rest of the plan into action.

"Just for you, boss. Just for you." He smiled evilly, echoing Boss Man's grin. Boss downed the rest of the tankard and gave him a one-armed hug around the shoulder.

"Guys! This is the best Second in Command a guy could have! Here he organises this whole thing! Gets you all here, and at the same time! Not one of youse fightin', an' he even gets me a present! I want you all to drink a toast! To good ole Red Eye!"

A cheer went up, and Diablo grinned happily as each and every man took a deep drink from their glasses or tankards. The only one's not drinking were his men, dotted around the encampment. Boss Man drank deeply and removed a large dagger from within his jacket, driving into the earth in front of Angelo. "You, me and that knife are gonna get well acquainted tomorrow." He grinned, and Angelo blanched, making him laugh even harder.

"Right! Let's get this party started!" With that, Diablo raised his arms and sent a pillar of fire high up into the sky, getting a resounding cheer for his efforts.

XXXxxxXXX

Standing in the middle of the forest, Colonel Nick Fury's one good eye narrowed as the sky lit up with flame, signalling that everything was in place.

"Teams 1 through 8 move in." He ordered into his radio, picking up his gun and making his way through the trees with the other members of the command team. Shouldering the rifle, he arrived just as the short and easy battle finished and the soldiers began tying everyone up. Standing on an empty beer cask, he surveyed the camp, happy to see that none of his own men were lying on the ground. A number of the insurgents, however, were lying with knives sticking out of their chests and backs. Motioning to Dum Dum to look, he growled; "Looks like some bikers took the chance to settle a few scores."

Dum Dum nodded and gestured to the centre of the camp. "What's tied to the pole?"

Fury shrugged and jumped down, slinging his rifle over his shoulder. "Find Diablo and get him over here. I want a report."

The ex-strongman nodded and strode off towards the huddled group of prisoners. Fury spared them a quick glance before crossing the compound to crouch down in front of Angelo.

Angelo began straining against his bonds and gag and Fury frowned, grabbing the knife that was sticking out of the dirt in front of the kid and quickly slicing through the material stuck in his mouth.

"Skin?!" he wrinkled his nose in confusion. "What the hell are you-"

"Untie me! Please, untie me!" Angelo cried out, moving his hands around so that Fury could slice through the rope. Without another word, he lurched to his feet and ran across the bare earth, unaware or not caring if Fury was behind him or not.

When he got to the tent he hesitated before throwing the flap open and stalking inside.

"Hermanita…." He whispered, kneeling down by the cot. She was fully clothed, but the top two buttons on her jeans were untied and her t-shirt was ripped at the seams and draped across her.

Fury reached the tent only a few steps behind Angelo and froze when he saw the Latino's find. Gulping down a breath, he put his hand on Angelo's shoulder and bit out a curse.

"Get out there and call for a medic." He growled, giving Angelo a shove towards the outside. Angelo nodded numbly and stumbled for the tent flap, disappearing into the darkness.

After a few seconds, Jubilee opened her eyes and stared at Fury. "Geeze Nick, you took your sweet time." She mumbled with a half-smile. Taking the sting out of her words, she reached for his hand and sat up with a wince, letting him help her. "'m ok. Takes more'n a few mutant bikers from hell to take me out."

Fury closed his eyes and shook his head, placing his hand on the crown of her head, giving her hair a gentle ruffle. "Yeah, kid. I know. Yer good. Jus' sometimes you ain't that good."

Jubilee's eyes narrowed in annoyance, and then slid closed again as she sighed tiredly. "You'd better tell Ange that ole' Red Eyes didn't touch me before he tries to beat his head in with a tyre iron or something."

Fury opened his mouth and shook his head in exasperation. "Hold tight, I'll be back."

Outside, Dum Dum was holding Angelo in a head lock as the grey skinned Latino tried to get at Mitchell.

"Espinosa!" Fury gripped his face tightly and made him look at him. "Lieutenant Diablo didn't touch Lee. She told me to tell you."

Angelo stopped struggling and blinked. "Lieutenant?"

Diablo massaged his wrists where the handcuffs had bitten into the skin and nodded. "Yeah, kid; Lieutenant. I was trying tell you out in the compound but that freak Weasel decided he wanted to play nasty with the kid in there."

"Play? What? Oh-Where is he?" Dum Dum asked, letting Angelo out of the headlock, but keeping a good hold on the collar of his shirt as he looked around the camp to see if he could identify the bastard who'd laid a hand on little Lee.

Angelo and Diablo turned and looked at the patch of scorched earth. Fury made an 'I see' face and nodded. "Get the rest of your men free. You can debrief us on the Heli Carrier."

XXXxxxXXX

Jubilee rolled her eyes at Angelo as the medic finally put away his stethoscope and held out a shirt for her to put on, having finished his lecture on do's and don'ts while she was injured.

Fury ducked into the tent just as the guy was leaving, another man at his heels. He didn't miss how her eyes narrowed when she saw the guy, and glanced down at Kitkat with a commanding expression. Kitkat completely ignored him and smiled sheepishly at her.

"Sorry about what happened out in the woods, kid. Couldn't give the game away. But yer damned good, though. I'll give you that. Next time, try to get rid of your perfume. That's the only thing that gave you away when I was tracking you."

Jubilee paused mid-way through buttoning up the shirt and stared at him for a long, calculating moment. "Thanks."

"Your father teach you that?"

Jubilee huffed a laugh and shook her head, standing stiffly, not bothering to conceal the wince of pain. "My father taught me the value of a dollar and how to get killed by the Wah Ching Triad."

Fury dropped his gaze to the earthen floor of the tent as she spoke, knowing know her parents had died and left her orphaned and alone in a world that despised her kind. "Nah, kid, her teacher was Wolverine. Bet he taught her everything he knew."

Jubilee smiled and straightened imperceptibly. "I wouldn't say everything he knows, but everything I know at least."

Kitkat smiled and walked behind her and the Colonel as they left the tent.

"So, we'll be going now, 'k?"

"What?"

"We – meaning me and Angelo, we'll be going now. We've got our own transport, so long as it's where we left it…"

"I am not just letting you guys drive off!" Fury shook his head and gestured to the transport that had landed in the trees, crushing them to the ground. "For one thing – look at you!" He pointed at Jubilee, who had the grace to blush. "You're coming with me."

"It's just bruises Nick."

"Bruised ribs Jubilee!"

"Bruised ribs, and a couple of scrapes and a bloody nose. I've had worse. In the grand scheme of things, it's all just been a minor blip on the radar screen. Right Angelo?"

Angelo nodded frantically as he approached them, Diablo at his side. "See, it wouldn't look so good, us coming back in a SHIELD Heli…"

"Scott would go ballistic."

"Storm would go loco."

"And Emma would give us 'the look'." They both shuddered at that one and Jubilee stepped closer to Nick, putting on her best 'puppy dog' expression. "Nick, it's like this. Gen-X have just been brought into the fold, so to speak. We're being amalgamated into the X-Men. We need to show them that we're more than capable of holding our own against the forces of evil. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

She stared up at Fury and he saw the spark of determination in her eyes. "I should just put you over my shoulder and carry you into the Heli." He growled, folding his arms across his chest.

"But you're not gonna, right? 'Cos you know, even without my powers I could probably take you…or at least, put up a fight. I can scream pretty loud…"

Silently, Nick turned to look at the trail of handcuffed prisoners being marched into the transport and then turned back to stare at her pointedly.

"Come on dude! There was like, sixty of 'em! And I broke one guy's knee!"

Sighing, Nick admitted defeat and nodded. "Fine. Just one thing though; why in the name of god did you two decide to drive across America?"

Jubilee looked over at Angelo and licked at her lips. "Well…We'd meant to spend a lot longer in LA, but things didn't quite work out they way they were meant to-"

"So we bought the car and decided to drive instead. Figured we'd get home around about the same time." Angelo muttered, looking down at the ground

Jubilee dug her bare foot in the earth and shrugged. "It sounded like a good idea at the time. We didn't figure on 'Ole Red Eyes and his gang, though."

Diablo gave a small bow, his evil looking grin making his face twice as fearsome.

"Go on the pair of you." Fury pushed Angelo down the trail in the direction of where the car had been abandoned. "The car is apparently still where you left it, minus the small arsenal in the trunk. I'm letting you go on two conditions. One, you tell'em what happened the minute you get home. I'm not having Summers learn about it by accident and chewing me out over it! And two, I don't want to get a phone call in a couple of days time chewing me out for letting you two go!"

Jubilee nodded and went on tip-toe, brushing his cheek with her lips. "No worries Nicko. We'll take full responsibility for our actions." Turning to Diablo, she reached out and shook his hand firmly. "So long Devil Man."

"See ya, kid."

She'd only taken a few steps before a throat cleared behind her and she realised that Kitkat still wanted to talk to her.

"I, uh, I just wanted to make sure…no hard feelings?"

Jubilee nodded, a small smile on her face. "Thanks. Forgiven." She held out her hand and shook his firmly. "It was for the greater good and all that jazz. But if you ever try to get my body to do something it don't want to do again, and I'll kill ya."

Kitkat's eyes narrowed in confusion and he shook his head. "What?"

"When you had me on the ground…? You were getting my body to do whatever you wanted it to…"

He shook his head again. "I don't have that kind of power, sweetheart. Nobody here does. Not even on the Transport."

Jubilee stared at him for a long moment as something niggled at the back of her brain. Finally, she took a step backwards as Angelo called her from the path back to the car. "Right…ok….bye."

XXXxxxXXX

They walked in silence down the trail, Angelo's arm slung around her neck, holding her close. Jubilee was deep in thought, trying to work out what had made her body react like it had. Halfway down the trail, she grinned and hurried into the grass, coming out triumphant with her boots, and within a few seconds of her being distracted by their retrieval, the memory of her body acting without her knowledge was gone as if it had never existed.

"I paid a lot of money for them." She grinned, waving them at him. "No way am I leaving them behind."

Angelo shook his head and walked on to the car, leaving her to slip them back on. He was surprised that their bags were still sitting on the back seat and he gave them a quick go-over to make sure that everything was still there. When his hand produced Jubilee's dead cell phone from the passenger seat, he picked it up and stared at it, rubbing the shiny finish with his thumb. It took him a few moments to realise that his hand was shaking. Without word or warning he whirled around and grabbed her in a big bear-hug, holding her tight as he mumbled incoherently in Spanish.

"Ange…it's ok. It's ok. We're both ok. Sssh." She rubbed his back gently until he had calmed down enough to ease up on his grip.

"Don't ever do that to me again, Chica." He stuttered, cupping her cheek with his hand. "Ever. I thought…" He swallowed a lump and shook his head again. "I thought bad things were happening in that tent."

Jubilee shook her head and grabbed his chin, squeezing it. "Get it into your head that nothing happened. Even the guy that snuck into the tent didn't get any further than a happy smile and a hello. Now, let's get this show on the road and find a hotel. Not a motel, a hotel. Someplace nice. With nice clean sheets and no dubious looking stains on the ceiling or carpets."

Angelo reluctantly let her go and helped her into the seat before slipping behind the wheel and starting the engine.

"And we're gonna order room service."

XXXxxxXXX

Logan sat on the front steps of the mansion, drinking in the evening summer sun. From time to time he'd take a sip from the beer bottle in his hand and lift his head to sniff at the soft breeze that carried the scents of the surrounding countryside to his nose.

The mansion was practically empty, and it was a fact he was almost glad about. But there was one person he wished was by his side, even though her incessant chattering would break the calm peace that surrounded him. Jubilation Lee. Jubilee. Jubes. His Pum'kin. Not that she'd probably allow herself to be called that any more. If she'd let him call her anything. Six month's earlier they'd had a huge fight. Almost a knock-down, drag-up fight. And then she'd just stopped talking to him. He'd expected her to be back when he'd arrived three weeks before, and that they could regroup, as it were. But when he turned up, there was no Jubilee. Turned out she and Angelo had flown to LA to clear up some business before rejoining the big leagues.

He'd screwed up. He knew that. He'd opened his big fat mouth and made her think he didn't care for her the same way as he always had. He'd treated her like a child long past due and she'd called him on it. Taking a deep breath and letting it out in a measured sigh, he took another sip.

She'd been right to call him on it. He'd never treated her like a child before…a kid, yeah. But not a child. She wasn't a child when he met her, why the hell did he have to go treat her like that now? Or then, at least. He'd let his deepest fears come to the surface and had reacted accordingly. Protect the pup, even though the pup could protect herself. And when he'd heard Gen-X was returning, he'd run away to hide from her and lick his wounds. Telling himself she didn't need him around. She probably didn't care. But even then, in the wilds of Canada he knew it was a lie. A big, bald faced lie. She needed him. Maybe not in the way he needed her, but she still needed him. Needed to know he was there for her no matter what.

And he needed her. Like air, like food, and like beer. That had hit him in the head like a meteor strike. In the middle of a bar brawl at the worst possible time, it had hit him. He'd rather have her at his side not talking to him than have her so far away not knowing if she was ok or not. If she needed him or not. And then the bastard he'd been fighting with stuck a shiv into his gut and twisted. With a fire burning in him Logan had put the guy through a wall and then high-tailed it back to Westchester as soon as his injuries had healed, only to find that she'd gone away with Angelo, to the other side of the country. Served him right. And Jean had slapped him across the back of the head when she saw him. That was his due too. He deserved that.

The wind picked up again, shaking him from his thoughts, and he blinked and cocked his head to the side. A car was coming. Putting down the bottle of beer, he stood stiffly and walked down to the bottom three steps, fists clenched and ready to rumble. After a minute or two, a powder blue and white old soft-top convertible with mismatched doors and only one wing mirror came into view, the engine grumbling and chuckling like it was about to keel over.

"Skin, where in the name of god did you pick that up?" He asked, recognising the man behind the wheel.

Angelo shrugged and turned off the engine. "Got a great deal on it, Senor Logan. Three hundred bucks and a kiss from a pretty chica."

"That would be me." A hand rose up from the back seat and regally waved at him. Groaning, she sat up on her elbows and flashed him a tight smile. "And don't you dare say I'm not a pretty chica. I am a pretty chica. All the boys tell me so."

Angelo concealed a laugh behind a cough and nodded once he'd gotten his face straight. "Of course you are Jubicita. You are a very pretty chica. Now get out of the car; I need to park it in the garage."

Logan shook his head as Jubilee fired several bags out of the back and slid out over the side. "Oh, no. Outside the garage. If you think that heap is going inside with the good cars-"

"Wolvie, the top doesn't go up. It's going inside. It's a good car. A bit battered on the outside, but we drove clear across America without a thing going wrong…with it. Without a thing going wrong with it." She amended lamely as Angelo started up the engine again. "Except for the top not going up."

When the car had left, Logan picked up some of the bags and looked at her with a sheepish expression. "You called me Wolvie." He murmured hopefully.

Jubilee toed one of the bags and stuck her hands in her pockets, looking down at her feet. Keeping her head down, she looked up at him through her lashes, a stubborn expression on her face.

"Got it beat into me up in Canada, how wrong I got it Jubes. Kinda realised how much I missed you…needed you. How wrong I was…" he cleared his throat gruffly, looking out at the trees. "Kid…Jubilee…I know I kinda overstepped the line…"

"Big time."

"Yeah. I know. Yer not a child. You never really were. I got a tad too protective of you. I see that…I know that…cut me some slack here, kid!"

"And?" Jubilee's head tilted up to look at him properly.

"And what? Oh…I'm sorry?"

"Logan…" She shook her head and looked confused. "I don't know how much I can forgive you…I don't know if we can go back to exactly the way we were…"

Logan nodded mutely. He'd been expecting that. While he was digesting the information Jubilee sucked in a deep breath. "We'll see how things go, ok?" He nodded carefully. He couldn't expect any more from her. At least, not right now. "Now, walk me inside like the gentleman you ain't."

"Why are you holding yourself funny? And what's up with yer face? It's all puffy." He asked, seeing her wince when she grabbed one of the dufflebags and put his hand on her arm. Catching his expression she shook her head ruefully and pulled at his arm. "Come on. It's a long story involving drug dealers, vendetta's, street gangs, misplaced airline tickets, bikers and SHIELD. You'll enjoy it. It's got beer in it."

XXXxxxXXX

Logan left her to it outside her room which was finally finished, retreating away to let her rest. She promised to tell him the whole story later, after she'd slept some and he was going to hold her to it. The brief overview she'd told him was more than enough to pique his interest.

When he had finally gone, Jubilee opened up the door to her room and kicked her bags inside. Two steps in, she stopped and blinked in amazement. Her small single bedroom had changed.

Gone were the beige walls and even duller curtains. And the small single bed. And the wall. A large grin slid across her face and she walked into the large sitting area that had been created, noting the fireplace and the rich looking fabrics that covered the comfortable couch and armchair.

"Oh you guys…" She pressed her fingers to her mouth and turned around in a small circle, seeing some of her remaining knick-knacks dotted around the place. Opening one of the two doors she could see, she found a bathroom that was larger than she expected, and trotting to the other door, she threw it open to find a large bedroom with a four poster double bed. Letting out a giggle she would never admit to, she walked back to the bathroom and began to fill the tub, pouring generous quantities of bubble bath inside and eagerly stripped before sliding down into the heat. "Now this was worth joining the big leagues." She sighed contentedly, wiggling her toes.

XXXxxxXXX

Beast jumped a mile when a pair of arms entwined around his neck and lips gently brushed the blue fur on his cheek.

"Made you jump." Jubilee grinned as he whipped his head around to look at her with wild eyes and he shook his head ruefully.

"Yes, you did." He grumbled, putting a hand on hers where they sat on his chest and yanking his the ear buds out, letting the tinny sound of Opera music fill the air. "I am afraid I am not going to thank you for doing so."

Jubilee's grin widened and she shrugged, letting go. "Kinda didn't expect you to, Blue. But tell you what; if I give you a nice present, will you forgive me?"

Beast frowned dubiously, but nodded. "What kind of a present?" He asked, his tone echoing his expression.

"One that you, and only you would appreciate Hankster." She fished in the pocket of her purple jacket and produced three vials of a clear liquid. "With complements of the finest minds in SHIELD." She placed them in his hand and closed his fingers around them. "It's called Nullopyrifostyrosinor_ganotransbutyryloxon, but for those of us who can't pronounce something that's too long to tattoo onto an arm, the lab rats have graciously called it Annul. It stops Powers, fast. It does nothing to visible mutations, but just try doing something flashy." She raised an eyebrow suggestively. "It's not for the general populace to know about…and I don't think they've even told the government in case they try to do something stupid like introduce it to the water supply or something."

Hank's eyes widened and he held up one of the vials to the light, peering at the label. "Does it really work?"

Jubilee nodded seriously, her grin fading. "Oh yeah. It really, really works. I can promise you that." Catching the look on his face she smiled sheepishly and shook her head. "Trust me, you don't want to know."

Hank's eyes narrowed, but crinkled at the edges and he patted her hand genially. "I think I do. How was your journey?"

When two small spots of red bloomed in her cheeks he sighed and shook his head. "What happened?"

Jubilee started laughing and shook her head. "Oh no. I'm not saying. But let's just say Drug Dealers, SHIELD and Bikers feature heavily."

Hank opened his mouth to say something but changed his mind. "Drug dealers, bikers and SHIELD; oh my." His delivery of the twisted Wizard of Oz quote was perfect and she closed her eyes and shook her head with a chuckled laugh.

"Yes Dorothy. And then a SHIELD tornado came and whipped us all off to Kansas. When was the last time you watched the Wizard of Oz Mr. Movie Buff?"

Suddenly it was Hank's turn to blush and he shook his head. "Let's just say that Jean and Ororo can be quite a formidable force when they join with Paige. Now shoo and let me be. I have liquids to analyse."

Jubilee nodded with a grin and stuck her hands back in her pockets, retreating as far as the door. "Um, Hank, the whole 'Drug Dealers Bikers and SHIELD oh my' thing…I got a bit beat up. Would ya take a look at me later…make sure I'm all in one piece? I was looked at by a SHIELD medic, but I'd rather you tell me I'm ok than trust those bozos."

Hank frowned and nodded, his mind half on the vial in his hand. "Of course, my dear. We will do it now, and I will look at this little 'present' you have given me after dinner, if that would suit?"

Jubilee's grin grew slightly wider and she gave another nod before slipping behind the screen and removing her top. She liked making Beast happy. And it was an easy thing to do. Don't go out of your way to get injured, never lie to him, treat him nice and every once in a while, slip him something he likes. Be it a Twinkie or a complex chemical to analyse.

Emerging wearing an examination gown, she flashed him a smile and silently sighed when she saw him snapping on the gloves. She hated physicals.

"When you say 'got a bit beat up'…how beat up would you say?" He asked mildly as he helped her up onto the med-bed.

"Kinda as in, kicked to pieces. If it makes you feel any better, and I know it makes me feel better, I broke one guy's knee." She shrugged, lying back and letting him pull up a sheet to cover her waist before he moved the gown so he could examine her abdomen. He frowned when he saw the dark bruises that littered her skin and she flinched when a cold latex finger touched her. "My apologies, Jubilee."

"No problem. It's just cold." She countered and he smiled as the goosebumps raised on her skin. After a short amount of time he asked her to turn over and he continued to prod at her skin and ribs.

After what felt like an age, he murmured softly; "So, you were kicked. What else?"

He didn't miss the veiled look she gave him over her shoulder and she shook her head. "Nuthin'."

He 'uh humed' and shook his head. "So, these handprints on your hips are 'nothing'?" He asked quietly. He felt her skin shiver and then tense and he gently rolled her around until she was facing him.

"Nothing happened, Hank. One of the Bikers got a bit too friendly is all. Diablo stopped him before he went too far. I'm _fine._ If I wasn't fine I'd have poison ivy rash to top it all off. And I don't so he didn't so that's the end of that. Got it? And I'd appreciate it if no one else found out about the handprints. Got it?"

"You are off active duty for two weeks." He countered, snapping off the gloves and throwing them into a bin. "

"Two weeks!" She protested loudly, sitting up quickly, her eyes wide.

"Now three. And if you continue to protest, I will make it four. Be thankful that you are in the best shape you can be. If you had been any way unfit, the damage would have been much, much worse. You have bruised ribs, Miss Lee, and though you obviously do not realise it, you need rest. And rest you shall." His eyes and tone softened, and he helped her down from the bed. "Because I care about you." He smoothed down the ruffled hair on top of her head and gave her a gentle, toothless smile. "Now, scoot."

Jubilee hurriedly pulled back on her clothes and fled the med-lab before the doctor could add any more time to an already lengthy sentence.

"Jubilee!"

Damn. She had hoped to get away without running into Scott for at least another couple of hours…ten at least.

"Hi Scott." She fixed her face into what she hoped was a disarming smile and swivelled on the ball of her foot to greet him as he strode up to her. He was dressed in street clothes and holding a data pad and she widened her smile slightly. "Long time no see, how have you been?"

The expression on his face showed she was not winning and the sparkle faded slightly from her eyes.

"Two. Weeks. Late" He enunciated each word slowly and clearly and she chewed at the inside of her lip.

"Things came up."

"Things came up?! You were only meant to be gone for three weeks!"

She shrugged and fell into step with him as they walked towards the elevator. "Like I said, Cyke, things came up. And we never really gave a time for coming back, did we?" from his silence, she sensed she hadn't really succeeded in deflecting his anger and as they stepped into the elevator she sighed heavily and let the smile completely fade away. When the doors shut, she turned to look at him seriously. "Listen, Scott, we'd had a pretty bad trip, me an' Ange. Well, mostly Ange. Ok, and me. Just a little." She admitted. "When we got to LA, things didn't go so well. It was more a long, torturous angst-fest rather than a nice relaxing holiday. We…" She sighed again and leant against the wall. "Ange tried to find his family…but ended up running into some of his old gang. I met up with Cynjen, and we didn't exactly hit it off."

Scott blinked behind his visor and as the elevator doors opened again he put his finger to his lips and guided her towards his study. Opening the door, he led her into the plush interior and gestured to a seat. "What happened?" He asked as she sat in front of his desk and massaged the back of her neck tiredly.

Shaking her head, she snorted and let out a quiet growl of frustration. "She's a user, Cyke. Never thought I'd see the day. She was, like, a happy little 'drugs are bad' hippy when I was hanging with her. All peace, love and I'm only picking your pocket so I don't starve. You should see her now. She's about seventy pounds, hair's all stringy, face is gaunt, arms look like…she uses drugs, that's what she looks like. A forty five year old heroin user, not a teenager with her whole life ahead of her. I tried to offer to help her get clean, but she didn't want any of it. Just wanted cash for her next fix. Turned out she owed her dealer a sizeable sum of money. Thought she could get it from me, one way or another…"

She glanced up at Scott, and even though she couldn't see his eyes behind the visor, she knew he was staring at her worriedly. "So anyhow, long story short, Ange's friends tried to first drag him back into the whole gang scene and when that didn't work, they tried to kill him. I met up with her and she tried to kidnap me and sell me off as payment for her drug debt. But we're both home safe and practically sound; no harm no foul."

Scott stared at her silently. She looked tired. More tired than he'd ever seen her before. Her shoulders were slumped dejectedly and even though the stubborn jut to her chin was still there, it was more sullen and pouty than ever.

"So, you had fun then?" He asked finally, tossing the datapad onto the table. A genuine smile crossed her face and she nodded.

"You could say that. Well, at least some of the last week was fun. We bought a car and drove…Angelo drove." She clarified quickly, seeing his eyebrow twitch. "No licence, no driving." She waved her hands in the air, reassuring him. "Not an idiot, just young and apparently too trusting. Naïve, but in a charming way, you could say."

He started to laugh and relaxed back in the chair. He almost hated to admit it, but he'd missed her.

"So we took our time and drove back. One or two hiccups, but it was mostly relaxing. Please don't shout when you see the credit card bill. After the whole 'biker's from hell' fiasco, we decided that hotels and fine dining was a good thing."

"Hiccups? Bikers?"

He didn't miss her nose twitch and he suddenly realised she was holding herself more carefully than normal, and that her makeup was heavier than usual. There was another heavy sigh and she shrugged helplessly. "Things happened, Cyke. We handled them, and they won't come back to bite us in the ass. I wasn't going to tell you about it, but I figured that was being childish. Plus, Fury kinda made us promise." Taking another deep breath, she began to fill him in with a heavily edited version of the trip home and by the end of it he was staring at her expressionlessly. Falling silent, she shifted in the chair and shrugged. "The End."

Scott blinked behind his visor and stayed silent as he processed the information she gave him. For some reason, he'd always thought Logan had been a bad influence on her, and while that statement was still true, at least in his mind, he had to give her credit where it was due. She was a trouble magnet.

"And you are ok?"

She gave a grim smile and began to play with the letter opener she had snagged from his desk. "I guess so. SHIELD Medic checked me over and said I was ok to travel. Hank's given me a good going over and I'm off the active roster for the next two weeks. He says three, but he only upped it _after _I started protesting. So it's only really two, right? I guess Ange should get a look see too, but I know he wasn't touched while they were waiting for Big Bad Biker Boss to turn up."

Scott snorted and stood with her, easing the letter opener out of her grip and guiding her to the door. "I see you are keeping up with the alliteration trend."

"He was frickin' huge!"

Scott grinned as she held out her hands wide and suppressed a sigh as someone knocked on his door. "I believe you, Jubilee. And I'll put you back on the active roster in three weeks. Ah ah." He held up a finger as she was about to protest and guided her to the door. "I'm not going to upset Beast by going behind his back. Enjoy the time off while you still have it."

**My thanks to all who have reviewed so far - and remember, a girl likes reviews - they let her know when she's getting it right, and when she is getting it wrong!**

**And my special thanks to the girl who is beta reading my work. FionaH, thanks a million!**


	7. Whispers in the Dark

"…_**come to me…"**_

"…_**listen to my words…"**_

"…_**feel safe…"**_

"…_**be treasured…"**_

"…_**beyond your wildest dreams…"**_

"…_**hear my call…"**_

"…_**let the shadow in your heart show you the way…"**_

And in the darkness, a sleeping soul came to him. And listened to the call. And felt safe and treasured. And the shadow wormed its way into her soul and showed her the way, surrounding her mind with the feeling of complete bliss, cocooning it, shutting it off from the world around it. And in the darkness a pair of violet eyes snapped open and slowly covered with a film of infinite blackness.

The woman lying on the bed in the next room heard and felt nothing as the miniscule sonic field began to form within her, expanding until it stopped the flow of blood to one very vital organ.

The blackened eyes stayed unblinking, staring at the now peaceful, unmoving face. Her steady hand reached out and opened the eyes so that she could see that death had taken over the life. Satisfied that all was as expected, she ran her fingers over the lids, drawing them closed once more. With a smile, she backed away, pressing two fingers to her lips and blew a kiss before disappearing into the darkness.

XXXxxxXXX

Paige tapped out a beat on the steering wheel as Jubilee rummaged in her bag looking for whatever was vibrating. They were on their way from the cinema, a failed attempt to ease Jubilee's cabin fever while she was on stand-down because of her ribs, and Paige was glad it would only be a day or two until the hyperactive half-pint was taken off restricted duty. The extreme exhaustion that had hit her after the strange mission in the Jungle had well and truly left her, and Paige found herself wishing from time to time that it would return. Her friend had been a lot more considerate back then. Now she was almost completely back to her normal perky self.

"Got it! Damn." Jubilee's eyebrows knitted together and she slammed the pager onto the dashboard, digging her hand back into the caverness recesses of her handbag to look for her phone.

"What is it?" Paige turned down the volume and turned to look at her closest friend, trying to bite back a laugh as Jubilee's arm disappeared up to her elbow.

"Bobby wants me to phone." Jubilee grunted as she fished around and breathed a sigh of relief as her fingers closed around her phone. "Why he couldn't have just called I have no ide-…oh. Four missed calls."

Paige bit back a snigger and moved the car forward an inch with a heavy sigh as Jubilee dialled Bobby's number. She truly hated traffic. Rolling down the window, she leaned out of the car to see what was holding everything up.

"Jubilee…tell Bobby we need back-up." She murmured softly, and Jubilee looked at her, eyebrows knitted in confusion.

"What?"

A split second later, three cars ahead, a column of fire rose into the air engulfing a truck. "Bobby we need back-up, town centre, just past the mall, A-sap." She dropped the phone and opened her door, sliding out of the SUV as Paige did the same. Her feet had barely hit the pavement when a fire hydrant landed on the roof of the car, punching a hole through the weak metal.

Around them people screamed loudly as they ran from their cars and fled towards the safety of back alleyways and buildings and Paige quickly ran around the ruined vehicle to stand beside her. "Did you see who it is?" Jubilee asked, and Paige nodded.

"Yes, but I don't know _who_ it is…" Paige suddenly blanched and shoved Jubilee out of the way, just as a mailbox crashed down between them. They both dashed for cover behind a small street stall and Jubilee took the opportunity to peak through a row of figurines.

"I think it's Freakshow…hang on, he's supposed to be on our side…"

Paige took a quick look and ducked as the strange creature turned in their direction. "Well, he's tearing up Main St., so I don't think he's on our side now."

Jubilee sucked in a breath as another car transformed into a blossoming fireball and hunched down even lower. "We're gonna need to be careful Paige. He-" she stopped as Paige dashed into the middle of the street, tearing off her skin to reveal a metallic layer.

"Idiot!" she called out after her friend. Groaning, she tied her hair into a ponytail and trotted out after Paige.

"Hiya Kevin, watcha doing?" she called out good-naturedly, hoping to distract him long enough to let the people cowering in terror beneath his feet to escape.

The monstrous head turned towards her and she bit at her lip, hoping to god that Bobby and the others would get a move on. Paige approached him from behind and waited to see what he would do. To their surprise, he morphed back down into human form and turned to look at Paige.

"I'd leave if I were you two. I'm just getting started." He advised them darkly, and Jubilee shared a worried look with Paige.

"Kevin, what's up? Why'd you go crazy on Westchester?" Jubilee asked as Paige edged closer.

His answer was to smile eerily at her and her frown deepened. There was something wrong with his appearance and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. But then he morphed into another monster and when a car was tossed into the air she decided that working out what was wrong with Freakshow could most definitely wait.

XXXxxxXXX

Bobby gunned the car around the corner as Logan tightened his seatbelt "Bobby…"

"They said they needed help, Logan. When'd you ever hear Jubilee ask for help?"

Logan nodded slowly as the car skidded around a corner into the main street and when it finally came to a halt, he clambered out, looking at the surroundings, wide-eyed. The main street was deserted and littered with burnt out overturned cars. The only people in the street were Paige, Jubilee and a man in a trench coat. Jubilee was sitting on the hood of a car with flashing lights, her arms wrapped around herself tightly in a self-hug. He almost groaned when he saw the expression on her face and readied himself for disaster.

"Officer…." The man turned to face them as Bobby spoke and Logan relaxed as he recognised him. "Morgan." He nodded and the detective closed his notebook with a sigh.

"Logan."

"What's going on?"

Paige gestured to the ruined street and shrugged. "We were sitting in traffic when Freakshow showed up. He blew up a truck, a couple of cars…" Both girls suddenly looked sheepish, though there was a hardness to Jubilee's eyes when she glanced at her friend before continuing; "We went to find out what was going on but he was hell-bent on a rampage."

"We showed up, but the girls here seemed to have it in hand." Detective Morgan continued in a slow drawl, leaning against the hood beside Jubilee. "Until he decided to grow to fifty feet tall with tentacles. We stepped in at that point, considering both girls were incapacitated."

Spotting Logan's quick glance at Jubilee, she sighed. "I'm good, Logan…just not tentacle good. I tried to fry him but he just squeezed harder. I had one around my neck and another pinning my arms to my sides." She flicked a piece of debris off her knee and rested her chin on it.

"The cops started firing on him and he let us go quick enough. Shrunk down into his normal shape and high tailed it for an alleyway. I chased but he disappeared. Which was weird, 'cos it was a dead end alleyway. Maybe he flew…I don't know." Paige sighed, suddenly looking exhausted.

"Why didn't you wait in your car for backup?" Bobby asked sternly and Jubilee's eyebrow twitched upwards.

"Look over there, Bobby. Do you see the burnt-out vehicle sitting next to the demolished stall? Well, that used to be Scott's SUV. Yeah, the one with the fire hydrant in the passenger seat. And the stall beside it was our second port of call. Waiting for back up was a nice idea an' all, but didn't quite work out as well as expected."

Bobby snorted and glanced around as people began to step back out onto the street, glancing around anxiously as if they expected their attacker to reappear at any moment. "Well, it looks like things are pretty much wrapped up here, at least from our end." He shrugged when Morgan glanced at him and gestured around. "Hey, we didn't do anything, so don't look at me like that."

"Logan, take the girls home. I'll deal with what's left of the street."

Logan grinned wryly at the cop he had befriended his first week at the mansion and nodded, urging Jubilee off the hood of the car with a gentle hand to her back. "Will do. C'mon, kid. Let's get you two home."

XXXxxxXXX

When Scott finally eased into the small briefing room to find out if there was any damage control needed, he was immediately confronted with an air of tension, and after taking a seat it was pretty obvious that the tension was solely coming from Jubilee and directed at Paige. Paige was looking down at the table with a stony expression on her face, while Jubilee was staring at her friend, her jaw set in a look that made him sigh.

"Ok, before we get down to what happened, what's going on between you two?" He asked, folding his arms across his chest.

Jubilee immediately dropped her gaze down to the table, but Paige raised her head defiantly. "I don't know. Ask her."

"Jubilee?"

"_Someone_ needs to remember that when she is dashing into battle, letting the person she is with know what she is about to do would help. You don't just run towards trouble, Paige. That's teamwork 101. You didn't know what Freakshow was capable of; I did and you didn't even wait to find out. You just ran in there half-cocked. You could have gotten you _and _me killed because of it. Don't look at me like that, Paige. From the expression on your face when he turned into the tentacle monster you _didn't_ know what he was capable of!"

"Paige?" Scott asked carefully, and the tone of his voice made Paige drop her gaze back down to the table. She shrugged awkwardly, her cheeks blushing violently.

"Yeah…." the one word conveyed a whole world of meaning and he let the matter drop. He'd talk to her about it later.

"So, in your own words, what happened?"

Seeing Paige was still bright red and obviously struggling with mortification, Jubilee cleared her throat.

"We were sitting in traffic, Paige looked out the window to see what was holding everything up. She must have been able to see what was going down because the next thing I knew she was telling me to tell Bobby we needed backup. We got out of the car and about 2 seconds later a fire hydrant was sitting in my seat…really sorry about that, Scott..." She smiled apologetically at him and it took all of two seconds for his brain to catch up with his ears.

"My car?"

"The SUV…" Paige murmured, chewing at her lower lip. "You did say we could use it if we needed to go to the mall…and it's the only car you own that I can drive."

"Just be thankful it wasn't the Ferrari, Cyke." Jubilee added warningly. "Anyhow, things went downhill from there. Paige went on the offensive, I approached to see what was going on with him – try to find out why someone like him was tearing up Westchester. Didn't really get an answer other than him blowing up the car. He told us to go away. Then there was the usual taunting, running, blowing up of public property…Paige chased him into an alley and then he was gone, like poof!"

"Poof?" Scott sounded sceptical, but Paige nodded emphatically.

"It was a dead end, Scott. Brick walls on all three sides. I looked for him in case he went small, but there wasn't even a rat in there."

"Cyke…there's something else, too. Aside from the whole 'going ballistic' on us, there was something off about him. I know I've only met him once or twice, but there was something not quite right…I can't really put it into words, but it was really hinky. It gave me the heebie jeebies."

"Jubilee, I'm not putting that into the report. I can't use the word hinky." Scott frowned, tapping his pen against the paper, but Jubilee's jaw set into a stubborn expression.

"Cyke, last time I said something gave me the heebie jeebies and was hinky and nobody listened to me, Jono ended up with a face again and Charles got his legs back. Put hinky into the report."

"Jubes-"

"Hey, if you put Logan's 'butkiss' into reports, you will put hinky into the damned report!" Her voice rose to a shout and a sudden hush fell in the room. Jubilee looked down at the hand that had just slapped at the tabletop and drew in a deep breath. "I think that's it, Scott. If you need me, I'll be in my room." She quickly left the room, and Paige closed her mouth with a 'clop'.

XXXxxxXXX

After Scott had a quiet word in Storm's ear, she found Jubilee kneeling in her closet throwing clothes and shoes over her shoulder.

"Jubilee?"

Jubilee froze with a boot in her fingers and her shoulders slumped down. "What can I do for you, 'Ro?"

"Are you looking for something?" Ororo sat on the edge of the coffee table, careful to keep her tone mild.

"I need a new bag, a new purse and a new phone. I know I have some in here somewhere…" Jubilee kept her eyes on the boot, her fingers tightening. "So, Scott sent you here to talk to me? Too chicken to face me after my 'Hinky' outburst?"

Ororo's lips twitched and she just barely managed to keep from smiling. "He is speaking with Paige. I wanted to see how you were doing. I wasn't in the mansion when you arrived home, and it's been some time since you and I have spoken."

Screwing up her face, Jubilee sighed and finally turned to look at Ororo, to find the weather witch looking at her with a kind look on her face.

"Sorry 'Ro. I guess the fight with Freakshow and Paige has kind of put me on edge…not that me and Paige really fought…I just don't think she's talking to me right now."

Ororo finally smiled and shook her head. "Scott told me what happened. She knows she was wrong. She probably just needs some time to get used to the idea. From what Emma and Scott have told me about her, being wrong isn't something she is used to."

Jubilee found herself smiling and laughed softly. "Yeah, that's Hayseed alright. Always right, never wrong."

"Like you." Ororo's eyebrow twitched upwards, and Jubilee's soft laugh grew louder.

"Oh hell no! 'Ro, you've known me too long…you know I'm usually only half right.. Ro', am I being nuts for going off on Paige like that?"

Ororo shook her head quickly. "No. You reacted exactly as you should have. However maybe you should have used less choice words in the car on the way home-"

"So you've been talking to Bobby too?"

"-yes, but she should not have run straight in like that. Although it is something you might have done at one time." Thinking for a moment, Ororo sighed. "Not in many years, however. You were brash and impulsive when you got here first. But it did not take you long to see the error of your ways. You give the impression of being rash and impulsive, but we who are in the position to know best you know you are not."

Jubilee sighed and dumped the boot down by her side. "Really, 'cos the impression I get is that even though I'm a regular team member, on the roster when I'm not injured, everyone still thinks I'm just a kid. Even Logan does…"

She paused and blew out a long breath, turning around until she was sitting with her back to the wardrobe door. Storm waited for her to continue, sensing that the child was going to have a revelation of some kind. Then she winced when she realised she'd automatically referred to her as 'child'. Jubilee, however, never noticed.

"But him and me, we've had it out. We've talked…" she gave a half-grin up at her pseudo aunt and shrugged, "and he pointed out that to him, we're all kids. And then we have Emma and Sean. Emma treats me like an adult when it suits her, and Sean's always like an indulgent uncle with a wayward niece…y'know, the 'yer naught but a wee lass who doesn't know any better' routine…just like Scott and Charles an' half the others. How come Emma does? And how come you don't?"

Ororo's lips twitched again. "I think Emma may see you better than any of us, Jubilee. But then, I cannot answer that question for her. Perhaps some day you should ask her."

The look Jubilee directed at her was almost scathing, and Ororo began to laugh in earnest.

"Jubilee, we all know what you are capable of, but she is the only one with enough…" she sought for a more polite word in vain and sighed as she continued; "balls to push you the way she does to get her results. And I will always remember what you have been through. I know you are not a child. Remember, I was once like you were, living on the streets, having to protect myself. I know how much a person can grow up when faced with that."

"So, what do I do? Put up with Scooter treating me like a kid? I mean, I know my English isn't so hot. I tend to lapse into Valley talk and my grammar isn't exactly in Hank's scale…but what's so wrong with the word 'Hinky'?"

Storm stayed silent for a moment, trying to work out exactly where it fit in the conversation, but decided to go with the flow. Her current mission was to make sure Jubilee was ok and iron out any problems no matter how…hinky.

Without another word, Storm eased off the coffee table and scooched along the carpet until she was sitting beside the suddenly lost looking teenager. "Come here." She wrapped her arms around her and rested her chin on the top of Jubilee's head. "It must be hard being a thirty-five year old in a seventeen year old's body." She mused with a completely straight face.

"Ha Ha. Very funny, lady." Jubilee sniffed and stubbornly wiped away a tear that threatened to fall. "Better than being a twelve year old in a twenty-eight year old's body. Just ask Bobby."

Ororo smiled and continued to hold her gently. "Jubilee, you must not take all this to heart. They – no, we, we are protective of you because you are ours and for some reason we are not quite willing to let go or to let you let go of your childhood. When Charles and Jono were, for want of a better word, healed, and you appeard to have nothing wrong with you, we all worried. I guess it made them- us, more protective of you than ever. Sweetheart, I do not know if you can understand how we, the X-Men as a whole, feel about you, and I do not have the authority to speak for many of the others. You came to us at a young age, and I have been proud to watch you grow to be a fantastic young woman. I view you as kin. And so does Scott, Jean, Henry and even Charles. Even if you _do_ use the word hinky."

Jubilee sniggered at that and leant into Ororo's hold. "Thanks 'Ro…"

"Now, let go of your boot and we shall go to a meeting. Charles wishes to see us all in the briefing room."

Watching Jubilee disappear out the door, she slowly got back to her feet, dusting off her clothes. Checking her watch, she made her way down to Scott's study, just as Paige emerged, red-faced. Knocking quietly, she entered and closed the door quietly behind her.

XXXxxxXXX

At the briefing, Scott didn't miss how Paige and Jubilee sat at opposite ends of the room, but he concentrated more on the fact that Paige's cheeks bloomed red every time she looked at Jubilee; though she tended to try to avoid looking at her at all costs. This would be an interesting couple of weeks until they either sorted things out or Jubilee let Paige off the hook. Having listened to Ororo describe her conversation, he'd come to two conclusions. One was that that this was something that Jubilee would have to work out with each and every team member until everyone understood that the girl wasn't thirteen any more. The second was that he himself would have to be more careful in his dealings with her. And the third was that he had nothing to worry about.

Jubilee, on the other hand, was under Hank's close scrutiny. His sharp eyes hadn't missed the red marks around her neck from the tentacle, though she had obviously tried to hide them behind makeup. She was studiously ignoring the doctor though, and even though the upcoming meeting was going to be serious, Scott couldn't help but smile.

When Charles walked in, everyone's attention turned to him, wondering why the meeting had been called. It wasn't for a mission, because if that were the case, Scott would have already started talking.

Charles, thankfully, dismissed most of his normal preliminary's and got straight to the point. "As you all know, many of our members are dotted around the world in various covert positions. They all send in updates regularly enough, depending on who exactly they are. Two have not checked in at their appointed time, and to be frank, I am worried. Polaris and Vectress are a week past due. Their mission was to observe a Friends of Humanity group in Paris and to report on their movements. I have tried to look with Cerebro, but there was no sign of either woman. Scott, you and one other are to go and find out what has happened to them. It is not like Polaris to miss a check in. And definitely not for this length of time. Logan, you and Jean are needed in Canada. Heather Hudson has contacted us and asked for your assistance in a new project she is working on. Take the Blackbird."

He didn't miss Logan's raised eyebrow and he shook his head exasperatedly. "It is nothing like that, Logan. Vindicator and Guardian just wish to talk to Jean about a project she has started up and I would be more comfortable if you were there with her."

Logan gave a heavy sigh and nodded, stalking from the room. He and Alpha Flight had a long history together, and not much of it had been good. While they were now on an even keel, he still didn't want to trust them any further than he could throw them. Jean rolled her eyes and stood, giving Scott a kiss on the forehead. "I guess we are leaving now, then." She grumbled, following Wolverine from the room.

"Meeting adjourned." Charles murmured, standing up and walking away with a sheaf of files underneath his arm.

"So, Scott, who are you taking with you to Paris?" Rogue looked at him hopefully.

"Jubilee, get some things together." Scott stood up and smiled at her as she stared at him in shock, her mouth hanging open.

"Moi?" She mouthed when he gestured to the door.

"Yes, Jubilee. You. Now hurry and get packed. I need to get some flights booked."

She shot to her feet and bolted out of the door, letting out an excited squeal. Remy rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Mon amie, you are a braver man than I, bringing de Petite to Parie. She gonna go crazy on you. Xavier not have a dime left by de time she get home."

Scott gave a shrug and followed the teenager out of the room.

OOOoooOOO

When he emerged with his bag, he found Jubilee sitting on the front steps, a knapsack by her feet. She had changed into a comfortable pair of jeans and a mauve sweater and had tied her hair back into a bun at the nape of her neck. She had exchanged her bright yellow mac at some point over the years for a long black leather coat that reminded him of Remy's, and she wore a neat pair of black knee high boots with a manageable heel. She looked all grown up. Seeing her like that brought home to him just how much she had changed over the years since she had arrived at the Mansion, cold, tired and extremely wary of anyone who wasn't Logan. She still wore sunglasses, though the garish ray-bans had been exchanged for a stylish black pair, and the movement of her jaw heralded a wad of gum in her mouth. She hadn't changed that much.

"You were expecting to see four or five bags, weren't you." She grinned up at him, bouncing to her feet and slinging her bag onto her back. "Remember, I've toured the world with Logan. I know how to pack light."

Scott shook his head and steered her to the car, smiling at her. "No, I wasn't expecting four or five bags. I was wondering if you would, but I didn't expect it."

Jubilee let out a bark of a laugh and Scott was suddenly glad he had picked her.

Four hours later he watched her trying to make herself comfortable in the small cramped seats in economy class. "I thought you only ever flew business class or higher?" She grumbled, squirming slightly.

"These were the only available seats, Jubes. Sorry." His broad shoulders weren't making it any easier for her, so he raised the arm rest and put his arm around her shoulders, letting her lie against his chest. "You are still a bit claustrophobic, aren't you?" He asked finally, feeling her chest heaving.

"A little…not so much as I was. It's just when I can't move my legs…" She shrugged awkwardly and snuggled down against him. "Why did you bring me, anyhow? You could have brought anyone else…"

Scott smiled and gave her a squeeze. "We haven't exactly had a lot of time together recently…well…since we sent you to school. I thought it might be nice to spend some time with you again."

Jubilee twisted her head around to look up at him, one eyebrow cocked. "Glad to see you are now saying 'we sent you' not 'when you went' like the others do. Taking responsibility for your actions." She could feel him stiffen underneath her cheek and she shook her head. "Down boy. I'm not sore about it any more."

He took a deep breath and rested his chin on top of her head, closing his eyes. "Why are you so claustrophobic, Jubilee. When I asked, no one would or could give me an answer."

Jubilee chewed at her lip and pulled away from him so she could see him properly. "Just a bad mission." She whispered, keeping her voice low so that no one else could hear her. "A building collapsed when I was in it about a year and a half ago…I got pinned for a couple of hours in the dark. My radio was out. No biggie…worse has happened to me over the years, I guess that it just got to me a little. Please don't tell anyone else Scott. I don't want them to know."

He watched her play with the fringe on the end of her sweater and took her hands in his, stilling them. "It's ok Jubilee…I understand. But we're your family. It's ok to show weakness from time to time."

Jubilee snorted and put her head back on his chest. "Yeah, right. That's why you've told Jean you are afraid of clowns then, right?"

"Uh…" Scott's eyes widened and he stared down at the neatly arranged hair now lying against his chest. How the hell did she know that!

XXXxxxXXX

Hours later and very early in the morning, two very grumpy X-men checked into a high class Parisian hotel. As per usual, one bag had not turned up on the carousel. Unfortunately, it had been Jubilee's. Mutely, she walked into the bathroom and shut the door firmly, leaving Scott to check in at the base.

Silently, she let down her hair and scratched at her scalp, hating the bobby pins that stuck into her head. Once the discomfort was gone, she carefully put it back up, this time in a French braid and washed her face before coming out again.

"I think we should go straight to Lorna's place." Jubilee announced as Scott put the phone back on the hook. Scott nodded thoughtfully.

"Charles just requested that, too. You ready to go?"

Jubilee nodded. "Sure. Bathroom's all yours. I'd change, but my bags are probably in Hong Kong by now. You'd think that they could manage to put one bag on the right plane for once, wouldn't you. Wanna bet it turns up just before we leave?"

Scott shook his head, disappearing inside the smallest room of the suite. "No bet!" he called out, through the shut door. Jubilee snickered and pulled aside the curtain, pouting slightly that they had no view of the Eiffel Tower. "Figures." She huffed under her breath. Still, she was in Paris, so she wasn't going to complain.

An hour later, they stood in the living room of Lorna and Cara's small apartment as the sun rose. The room was freezing cold, and the air conditioning units were on full blast, the frigid air raising bumps on the skin of their arms.

"Look in the bedrooms, I'll check the kitchen." Scott murmured, heading for the small kitchen at the back.

Jubilee took two steps into the first room and sucked in a horrified breath.

"Sco…Scott, I've found Lorna…" She called out, her voice trembling.

Scott hurried back through the living room to find Jubilee bent over the very dead corpse of Lorna Dane; the mutant Polaris.

"Is she…?" He asked unnecessarily.

"Dead. Very dead." She whispered softly. "She looks…peaceful, though. There is no sign of a struggle. She looks like she died in her sleep."

Scott rubbed his hand across his face and nodded. "Jubilee, come away from there."

Jubilee nodded, quickly backing away from the bed. "We'd better check the other bedroom. See if Cara Shenke is there."

Scott nodded but held up his hand once they'd reached the living room again. "I'll check. You…check their bills."

Jubilee nodded, not wanting to see the body of yet another X-Man, and quickly flipped through the letters they'd collected from the hatch. There was one addressed to Lorna. She recognised the writing as Bobby's, and tucked it into her inside pocket. The two had dated at one point and she had a feeling that he would probably want it back.

"She's not in there." Scott's face was grave when he emerged, and he took out his phone. "And neither are her belongings."

Jubilee turned to look back at the bedroom, the bed clearly visible through the open door. "Scott…"

"I don't know, Jubilee. We'll need to get the body out of here without anyone noticing, though. Get it to Muir Island and ask Moira to do an autopsy. I'm going to talk to Charles and then get Excalibur to fly down with Kurt. If they hover over the building in stealth mode, then he can teleport the body up and we can close up the apartment."

Jubilee sighed and shut the bedroom door, closing off the view of the corpse. After a few minutes she had located a loose floorboard in the living room and quickly pried it up, removing a sheaf of notes and a data pad. She sat down on the couch and began to go through them as Scott paced, waiting for Charles to answer the phone.

She listened with half an ear as he spoke quietly and began to read, her brow furrowing as she tried to make sense of Lorna's chicken-scratch handwriting and the odd note in the margins that Vectress had made. Midway through she stopped, finding an envelope wedged between two piles of paper. It was addressed to Bobby. Looking up, she realised that Scott had his back turned to her and she quietly folded it over and put it into her inside pocket next to the letter Bobby had sent. Sighing silently, she went back to her work, and when Scott finally ended the call, she turned and looked up at him.

"The Friends of Humanity gang disbanded about three weeks ago. Turns out Europeans are a lot more liberal than we take them for. According to Cara's notes, their last three rallies were picketed by 'normals' who told them to get the hell out of the country or face their wrath. I'll phone Bishop and ask him to tiptoe through the airline's flight itineraries and see if he can find out if they went back to the states or not. At least we can try wrap up this mission while we are waiting for Kurt and the others to arrive."

Scott nodded approvingly, secretly impressed that she'd had the forethought to keep working and tossed his phone to her. "Work away. Excalibur will be here after nightfall. I'm going to ask the neighbours and the building superintendent if they've seen Cara recently. I'll tell them I'm her cousin from the States. You are my daughter. Got it?"

Jubilee nodded absently, already dialling Bishop's number. "Yeah."

By the time he got back from his fruitless search, Jubilee was back at the bedroom door, staring at the now covered body. "She was a nice girl." She murmured, feeling Scott's hands gently rub her upper arms, trying to comfort her. "Never really had much to do with her, and even though she did break Bobby's heart…she was still nice."

Scott nodded and gently turned her away from the room, closing the door again. He walked her out onto the small sun drenched balcony and Jubilee shook her head ruefully. "Sheesh, we spend a fortune for a hotel room with no view, and they could see the tower from here."

Scot followed her gaze to see the tip of the Eiffel Tower poking above the rooftops and shrugged. "That's the fall of the dice."

Shrugging, Jubilee turned her back on the view and began to shred a leaf from one of the window boxes between her fingers.

"Want to talk about what happened this evening? I mean, yesterday evening?" he asked quietly and Jubilee squinted up at him

"Not really. You sent Storm to do your dirty work after all."

Scott sighed at the bitterness in her voice and shook his head. "No, I was talking to Paige. As another team leader, I thought that Storm would be more suited to talking to you. Apparently I do better at the 'I expected more of you' speeches than she does. Now I'm talking to you, and Paige has an extra danger-room session this evening. With Remy."

Jubilee winced, knowing that Remy was in a foul humour after yesterday's break-up with Rogue. "Ouch. I think I'll text her and tell her where my bruise ointment is." Her wince turned into a grin and she smirked at Scott's raised eyebrow.

In the comfortable silence that fell, Jubilee watched the pretty Parisian street below them and sighed softly.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"I just can't believe Lorna is dead. It's…senseless, I guess. I mean, if she'd gone down in a fiery blaze of glory…that I'd understand. That was Lorna. But…not in her sleep. Not like this." She shook her head again, trying to make sense of it all.

Scott nodded slowly. "I understand. I felt the same way when Jeff Daniels died." He looked down to see Jubilee staring at him quizzically. "Jeff's alter ego was Dynaguy. He was a member of the Thrilling Three. A Super – they were government funded mutants. Actually, Vectress was one too. Their golden years ended a long time ago, when people started suing the government because of incidents involving the Supers." He shook his head in amazed disbelief.

"What happened to him?"

"Believe it or not, he is the reason why the X-Men don't tend to wear capes. Well, him and a couple of others. He was taking off and his cape snagged on the ground. Senseless. Of course, he wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, but still…"

"His cape snagged?" Jubilee sounded sceptical, but the expression on Scott's face told her he was telling the truth.

"His cape snagged. Oh, there were others it happened to, but that's the one that always stands out in my mind. That's why we train so much, Jubilee. So that stupid mistakes like that don't happen."

Jubilee nodded slowly. "Oh, I understand the need to train, Cyke. We have to be on top of our game at all times. Because the one time we're lax, that's when they get you. Vigilant at all times an' all."

"Exactly. Which is why I'm going to start taking you on in Danger Room simulations. I want you to be at the top of your game." Scott stared at a flowerbox on the balcony of an apartment opposite and thought about what to say next. It wasn't often that he got time alone with other team members. Other than his wife, of course. There was always someone hanging around in the background needing to talk to him. Always something that needed to be finished.

"I'm proud of you, Jubilee." The words broke the easy silence and left Jubilee dumbfounded. "I don't say it enough, but I am. You have turned into a beautiful, strong, courageous and intelligent young woman. And you've done more than I've ever hoped for." He smiled down at her proudly and she felt her cheeks begin to burn.

"Wh-what's brought that on?" She asked finally and he wrapped his arm around her as she turned to look up at him properly.

"Nothing. It's something I've wanted to say to you for a long time now, but I haven't had the chance. Something or someone always gets in the way. That's the one thing that annoys me about my position. Everyone seems to want a piece of me."

"You need a holiday." Jubilee quipped, but he shook his head.

"No changing the subject, Jubilee. I know you too well to let you do that. This is one of the few times that I _know_ I will have alone with you, uninterrupted. It came about because of a sad reason, but I am going to take advantage of it. I want you to know how proud I am of you. Me; not the X-Men, not Charles or Jean or Ororo. Or even Wolverine. Me and me alone. I know I've come down hard on you in the past. And that sending you away wasn't exactly to your plan. But I could see you needed more than we could ever give you. You are a special person, Miss Lee. You have such potential…" he cupped her chin with his hand and stroked her cheek with his thumb. "I guess what I am trying to say is that…if I raised a daughter… …I'd want her to be like you. To be as strong as you. And as beautiful as you." He smiled sadly and when she stepped closer, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

Jubilee let him hold her, sensing he needed it more than she did, and wondered what had brought about his sudden need to tell her something like that.

"Okay." She murmured finally, pulling back with a quiet sniff. "But you still need a holiday. You and Jean, take the jet, take off, head into the wild blue yonder. Have a blast. Have two blasts. Lie on a beach and drink cocktails. Watch the sun set, and then watch it rise again." She tapped his chest warningly. "Scott, since we're having what seems to be a heart-to-heart here, I'm gonna let you into a little secret here. I'm worried about you. I know you are Mr. Serious and all, and that you need to be because you are like, the second in command. But if you keep on going the way you are, you are going to have a heart-attack or something."

Scott arched an eyebrow but Jubilee poked him in the chest. "We all have our strengths, Fearless. And we have our weaknesses. And yours is a complete lack of being able to delegate. You've got more people under that roof than there has been in years. Take advantage of it…just remember that I have dyscalculia so don't give me anything to do with mathematics, right? And remember that I'm a night owl. I'll do evening shifts on whatever you want, just don't make me get up at six am."

"Did Jean ask you to talk to me?" He asked with a curious frown, and Jubilee nodded slowly.

"No, but she may have mentioned it." Fifteen times since she and Angelo returned. "But it wasn't anything I hadn't already noticed. You are starting to go grey, Cyke, and unlike Angelo, it's not a good look on you. And I'm talking skin-tone, not hair colour. I'm surprised that Hank hasn't noticed yet."

Scott dipped his head with embarrassment. "He has. I'm on some macrobiotic diet. He thinks it has something to do with my metabolism."

"Phoey." Jubilee snorted, turning to look back out at the street. "If my arm fell off tomorrow he'd say it was because of my diet. You need to take some of the weight off your shoulders, Scott. You don't laugh half as much as you should. Or even half as much as you used to. Five years ago, I could get you to laugh. Now it would take a five hour Laurel and Hardy marathon to even raise an eyebrow with you."

"Not so. I distinctly remember laughing yesterday."

"Laughing at Bobby doesn't count." Jubilee cautioned him sternly.

"I know." Scott smiled again and reached into his pocket to take out his wallet. "Come on. We'll go to the café on the corner and wait there for a while. There's something about sitting in an apartment with a dead person that gives me the heebie jeebies."

The look Jubilee shot him at the use of 'heebie jeebies' was priceless, and he suddenly wished he had a camera.

XXXxxxXXX

Five hours later, they were sitting on the couch with takeaway cardboard coffee cups in their hands, staring at the wall, still waiting for darkness to descend.

"So, let me get this right; Kenny dies in _every _episode?" Scott looked perplexed and Jubilee nodded exaggeratedly.

"Almost every episode. And then someone says 'You killed Kenny. You bastard!'."

"And it's supposed to be funny?"

Jubilee shrugged, taking a sip. "Some people think it is. Actually, a lot of people do to be honest. Southpark is an acquired taste, I guess. And it's geared more to my and Bobby's generation. Not yours."

"What else is there?"

"Family Guy. That's pretty decent."

"Seen it. I like Stewie."

"American Dad?"

"Storm thinks it's funny. I don't really like it that much."

Jubilee turned to look at him in surprise. "Hang on, you've seen American Dad _and_ Family Guy, and yet you've never seen Southpark?!"

"Yep."

Jubilee was about to retort when Scott jumped and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket frowning as it vibrated. "It's Bishop." He answered quickly and listened to what the normally taciturn mutant had to say. When he hung up, he drained the last of his coffee and gathered the papers strewn across the coffee table, dumping them into an empty metal bin. Lowering his glasses, he set fire to the paper while Jubilee looked at him strangely. "All the FOH members returned to America a few days ago. Two went on to Germany, but flew out from Munich a day later after the Police caught wind of who they were. They were deported on the grounds that they might incite a riot."

"Mission over…" Jubilee sighed, shutting Lorna's laptop and putting it into its bag. While they'd chatted she'd put a brief synopsis of the handwritten notes onto the hard drive.

"Yup." Scott sighed and checked his watch again. "We've got about another five hours until Excalibur gets here. What do you want to do?"

Jubilee bit at her lip, glancing at the closed bedroom door. "Would it be totally tactless to say shopping?"

"You didn't know her that well, Jubilee. It's not that tactless."

Jubilee shrugged awkwardly and Scott suddenly realised there was a tightness around her eyes. Storm had said that the teen was sick of being treated like a child, but in this situation he realised he may have been a little tactless himself expecting a seventeen year old to hang around a dead body all day. "Go shop, Jubilee. You have two hours and if you buy anything, drop it back to the hotel and then come here."

Jubilee sighed with relief and was gone out the door in as long as it took her to grab her jacket, handbag and Scott's cell phone. Once away from the apartment she began to relax and soon found herself walking down a street lined with high-end boutiques. But even they didn't do much to ease her thoughts. What had gone on in the apartment? Surprisingly enough, there hadn't been much of a smell from the decomposing body, but she guessed it was because the air con was set so low. She paused in front of a boutique window, thinking hard. Too low for even Bobby's comfort. Blinking at the sudden thought that hit her she began tapping her fingers against her thigh. Lorna had died in her sleep. That much was apparent, but why was the air con in the room set so low? Maybe it-

This was getting her nowhere. Shaking her head, she walked to the nearest coffee shop and bought a muffin and yet another coffee, idly wondering if Hank would dare put her on a caffeine-free diet like he had Scott. She knew he'd started to monitor her eating habits since her return to the mansion, and it was exactly the kind of thing that her favourite cookie-monster look-alike would do. Staring out into the middle-distance, her thoughts once more turned to Vectress and Polaris and she began to absently shred the muffin into pieces.

"Enfant." A man sat at her table, shaking her from her reverie and she blinked when she recognised the well-dressed man.

"Jean-Paul Beaubier. To what do I owe this dubious pleasure?" She asked dryly, shaking the crumbs from her fingertips as Northstar placed his paper and coffee cup onto the table.

"You were staring at me, enfant, and I began to wonder why Logan's brattling was in Paris."

Jubilee looked surprised, and looked past the Alpha Flight team member to a recently vacated table. "Oh…sorry, I didn't even see you there. What brings you to this fine and historic city?"

Northstar stared at her for a moment before shifting in his seat to cross his legs. "I am meeting someone. I am due to meet with her in a few minutes. Now, what brings you to Parie? I was surprised to see you here."

Jubilee smiled. Northstar was very obviously trying his best to be nice to her, and considering the fact that he normally thought her to be a loud-mouthed annoying little pain in the ass, it was a big step for the French Canadian Mutant. "Cleaning up a little business with Cyclops. There was a Friends of Humanity gang trying to set up shop here for the past six or so months. They got run out of Paris a little while ago." She replied, suddenly not wanting to reveal too much without talking to Scott first. "Cyke gave me a little personal time to get in some shopping…and see the sights."

Jean-Paul rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I'm sure you've taken in much."

Jubilee opened her mouth with an annoyed expression. "I'll have you know that I've seen quite a lot, thank you very much! I saw a Channel shop, two Gap stores, a Yves San Laurent boutique and three, count 'em, three fountains. And a mime. And believe me, it took all I had not to blast him into eternity. I hate mimes." She shuddered and Northstar picked up his paper, folding it and tucking it underneath his arm.

"Ah, yes, you are a truly cultured soul." He muttered sarcastically, but before she had time to retort he stood and bowed mockingly. "I will bid you adieu, enfant. I must meet my friend. Give my regards to Cyclops."

Jubilee wrinkled her nose at his retreating back and took a sip of her now cold coffee, grimacing at the taste. "Sucks to be you." She sniped underneath her breath and folded a 5 euro note underneath the saucer, getting to her feet. "For that, I'm gonna stalk you and see who your little 'friend' is."

It wasn't hard to follow the tall man through the half-empty streets, and she hung back, keeping a good distance between them in case he turned and saw her. While she didn't mind following him, she didn't fancy having to deal with his reaction if he found out she had.

Using a large stall to hide behind, she watched him approach someone with their back turned to them and tap them on the shoulder. Jubilee's jaw dropped when she saw Vectress turn to hug Jean-Paul and she stepped further into the shadow of the awning. Fumbling in her pocket, she took out the cell phone and dialled the apartment's number.

"Cyke, you are not gonna believe who is meeting up with Northstar not forty feet away from me." She murmured quietly, and in the apartment, Scott frowned shooting to his feet.

"Vectress?" He paced towards the window, looking out at the still bright sky.

"Got it in one, Fearless. What do you want me to do? Confront, tail or…or what?"

Scott tore a hand through his hair and looked at his watch. "Have they seen you?"

"Northstar has, but he left me back at a coffee shop. He p'ed me off so I stalked him to find out who he was meeting. I stayed pretty far back though, and I'm pretty sure he hasn't seen me. What do I do, Cyke?"

There was a long silence and she was beginning to wonder if he was still there when he finally answered her. "Did you tell him what we were doing here?"

Jubilee shook her head. "I only told him we were here about some Friends of Humanity guys that were kicking up trouble a few months back. I didn't name either of them, and Northstar thinks I'm just shopping for the day. I told him you gave me some free time to see the city."

"Ok, follow them but do not get caught. If they do catch sight of you, pretend that you know nothing, ok? Look surprised that you met Northstar again and play nice with Cara until I get there. I'm leaving the apartment now."

Jubilee slipped the phone back into the pocket of her jeans and hurriedly took off her long coat, stuffing it into the paper bag at her feet, replacing it with the mulberry leather biker jacket she had just bought. When she looked up, she found the stall attendant staring at her and she raised an eyebrow in a silent challenge. Smiling knowingly, the man held out a baseball cap and she took it with a half-grin. "Merci." She whispered, jamming it on her head before pressing a handful of euros into his hand. "Au revoir."

It was slightly harder to trail them this time. Neither seemed to be in a hurry, and they stopped often to look in shop windows or to examine a nice piece of architecture or art. She dawdled so much that she lost sight of them and had to guess which way they had gone. Emerging out onto a deserted side-street, she darted back into the shadows, her eyes wide. Northstar was lying on the ground with his back to her and Cara was bent over him, her hand held out as an unmistakable wave of power emanated from it.

"Oh no you don't…" Jubilee murmured, and dropping her bags, she lashed out with her paffs, catching Cara unawares. Her edge didn't last long as Cara rolled to her feet and focused a sub-atomic blast directly at her.

The years of training made her ready, and she leapt out of the way, landing easily. She saw Northstar struggle to get to his feet just as Scott appeared at the far end of the street. He'd heard the unmistakable fizzing sound of Jubilee's paffs and had reacted accordingly, breaking into a run.

Cara's expression didn't bode well for Jubilee, and she fired off another barrage of paffs just as a shock wave hit her dead in the chest, throwing her against a wall. She landed heavily and rolled slowly to her feet, lurching to the side as her abused muscles protested at bearing her full weight.

"Scott, where'd she go?" She called out, spotting Cyclops helping Northstar to stand.

"She fired at me and when I got back up she was gone." Scott murmured, ignoring the pointed look Northstar was directing at him.

"Ok, I will say this only once. What the hell is going on here?" His French accent was thick and strong and Jubilee shared a long look with Scott before answering.

"The three of us nearly got our butts handed to us on a plate by someone who is possibly a murdering bitch." She answered, grabbing her bags and dragging off the cap. "What'd she do to you?"

Northstar looked shaken, but he stood up straight and gave the bottom of his suit jacket a firm tug. "I'm not sure. We were just walking and then I was on the ground watching her…" He shook his head and Jubilee realised his lips were tinged with blue. "It felt like my heart was going to explode."

Jubilee bit at her lip. "Scott?"

"I know, Jubilee. I know." He murmured, putting his hand on Northstar's shoulder. "Jean-Paul, if you have nothing pressing, I suggest you come back to the apartment with us. We're waiting for Excalibur to come and take Polaris's body back to Muir Island for an autopsy."

Northstar's eyes widened at the implications of what Cyclops had just said and without a word, followed them down the street, wondering what had gotten into Vectress.

XXXxxxXXX

The autopsy was both conclusive and inconclusive. Moira emerged from the small room, dragging off mask and gown with a tired sigh, knowing she had to face not only her own people, but Scott, Jubilee and Northstar as well.

She found them all gathered in the briefing room, Jubilee curled up on the floor next to Scott's feet, her eyes distant.

"Polaris died of heart failure." She announced, wiping her hands on a piece of tissue.

Northstar's head whipped around to stare at Scott and Jubilee, an almost accusing expression on his face. "You said-"

"She had you on the ground about five seconds away from being a dead man. You're welcome." Jubilee snapped, seeming to come back to the present.

"If you would let me finish." Moira snapped, tired and irritated. "Polaris died from heart failure with a _perfectly healthy heart_. Knowing Vectress's powers, but not the girl herself, she could, theoretically have killed her. I don't know for certain, but I want to see you, Jean-Paul, in my med-bay, now." Northstar looked about to protest and she raised her chin a fraction of an inch. "_NOW."_

Jubilee slid into his vacated seat with a wince and Moira paused in the doorway, watching her carefully. "Do I need you in my med-bay too?" She asked with an arched eyebrow, and Jubilee shook her head as Scott nodded.

"I'm fine." She shook her head and folded her arms across her chest, making Kitty snicker.

"She got thrown against a wall, Moira, and yesterday afternoon, she and Paige got into a fight with Freakshow and I know for a fact that she didn't get seen to by Hank-"

"Didn't get into a fight. He started it by lobbing a fire hydrant at your car." Jubilee muttered under her breath as Moira crooked a finger at her. "Moira, if I can do this, then I'm fine."

She got to her feet and touched her toes before contorting in a way that had Pete whistling in appreciation. "See?"

Moira's eyes narrowed, but she finally nodded. "Fine, but if you have pain-"

"I'll take 2 tylenol and see you in the morning. I'm _fine_."

Moira stared at her for another long minute before turning on her heels and walking out the door. Two seconds after it closed behind her and Northstar, Jubilee let out a quiet 'ow' and sat down again.

"Jubilee, you do remember that I'm your team leader, don't you?" Scott asked pointedly, and Jubilee nodded.

"I do. But out of all the people at the mansion, I'd say that the Gen-X'ers are the only ones that are going to be on full operating power over the next few days. You're going to need all you can get if we get a call-out. Or do you want to send a bunch of highly-charged over-emotional grieving mutants out to confront baddies?"

Scott sighed and rolled his eyes, making Kitty snicker. "If I get even a whiff of a belief that you aren't able to do this-"

"I'm on the bench. Got it."

xxxXXXxxx

**AN: - Firstly I'd like to thank you all for your patience. I know where I'm going with this story, but sometimes the chapters are difficult to write and life is currently kicking me and my fmaily in the pants healthwise. So thank you all for sticking with this, and if you look just below this text you'll see a little 'review' button that will really make me feel better. I'll take anything from criticisim to helpful pointers. I hope I'm getting the characters I'm not familiar with right, and if you see any problems, just let me know and I'll do my best to make them better. Oh yeah, I'm now without a betareader so please, continue to be patient...**


	8. Call of the Shadow

"…_**come to me…"**_

"…_**feel safe…"**_

"…_**be treasured beyond your wildest dreams…"**_

"…_**hear my call…"**_

"…_**I can see the darkness in your heart…I know your pain…let me help…let the darkness in your soul show you the way…"**_

_**/…no one knows the darkness in my heart…/**_

Logan bolted upright in his bed, breathing hard. The dream that had just woken him had been one of the most benign nightmares he'd ever had, and yet it had left his heart beating hard in his chest, thumping so loud that it almost hurt his sensitive ears.

Scrubbing the sleep from his eyes, he threw aside the covers sat on the side of the bed, head hanging low. After a lengthy pause to get his breath back, he got to his feet, and scratching at his bare chest just below his dog tags, padded across the bare floor to the bathroom, stepping into the shower to wash the sheen of sweat from his skin. When he emerged a few minutes later, he felt marginally more human, and dragged on a pair of jeans and a shirt, judging that sleep was now just a pipe dream. When he got downstairs, he found Jubilee, Jono, Paige and Angelo sitting around the kitchen table, all yawning widely but sitting holding large cups of steaming coffee.

"What's got you lot up?" He asked gruffly, grabbing his own mug.

"Can't sleep."

"Don't wanna sleep."

"Bad Dream."

"Don't want to talk about it."

All four chorused at the same time, and then glanced at each other sheepishly.

"Dreams?" Logan put down the mug and they all nodded, keeping their eyes fastened on their mugs. "Somebody trying to get into your heads?"

Jono shook his head. "No. I lost my face again…only they took my eyes this time too…" He shuddered and took a long sip from his mug.

"I don't want to talk about it." Angelo muttered, hunching over his cup of coffee.

"Jello…." She supplied with a faint blush. "Don't ask…it's the reason why I don't watch The Blob."

"Jubes?" Logan sat down opposite her and watched her appraisingly.

"Long and complicated and not fun. I don't want to sleep again, and considering the fact that I've got a danger room session in less than two hours, I might as well stay awake." She plucked at what she was wearing, and Logan realised that she was dressed in a training uniform and had tied up her hair in preparation. "I'm gonna give Scott the fright of his life by actually making a 5.30 training session. I just hope I don't fall asleep in the middle of it." She joked, but it was ruined by a jaw cracking yawn. "So, someone was trying to get into your head?"

Logan shook his head and echoing Angelo's earlier comment, he hunched over his mug. "Don't wanna talk about it."

Jubilee shrugged indifferently, but changed the subject, resolving to ask him about it later. "What time'd you get back?"

"A little after midnight. Alpha Flight will come down today for the funeral. They had some things they needed to wrap up before following us down. So, what's with you doing a Danger Room session with Cyke at this hour of the morning?"

Jubilee shrugged with a half-smile. "That's between me and Cyke." Her smile drained away when the door to the kitchen opened again to admit Bobby and Gambit, the older man supporting the younger as the ice-mutant swayed within his grasp.

"Gambit needs a hand, s'il vous plait…."

Jubilee watched as Angelo and Logan relieve Remy of his burden and man-handled the very drunk team mate over to the kitchen. "Where'd you find him?" She asked worriedly, grabbing two cups and pouring coffee into both.

Remy accepted the cup she handed him gratefully and shrugged, his eyes unreadable behind his sunglasses. "Harry's. I got a phone call from one of de barmaids there. She asked me to come and get him since it was past closing time an' he was nowhere near getting ready to leave."

Jubilee leant back against the counter and watched as Bobby's team mates began to coax him to sip from the cup. He had taken the news of Polaris's death without displaying a shred of emotion and had disappeared shortly after she and Scott had returned from Muir Island with her body. Belatedly, she remembered the letters that were upstairs in her pocket, and resolved to give them to him when he had sobered up, hoping they would help.

XXXxxxXXX

Bobby's reluctance to go to Polaris's burial was not missed by many, but considering how many times he had snapped at people during the long day, both drunk and sober, Jubilee ended up being the only one brave enough to seek him out in the secluded walled garden in the grounds of the Mansion, judging that if she kept her mouth shut, she'd give him nothing to snap at. When she found him, he was holed up in a small nook towards the back, mostly hidden by a large bush.

He didn't register her presence when she beside him on the bench and laid her head against his shoulder with a soft sigh. Like her, he was dressed in black and after a while, he looked down at her, seeing the concern in her eyes.

"Thanks J." he murmured, threading his arm around her shoulders.

"Not doing anything. Just sitting here." She countered softly.

"It's what I need. I swear if I hear it one more time…" He gritted his teeth and shook his head. "'She died quickly'. 'At least it was painless'. We don't know it was painless! We don't even know if she died in her sleep! What if Cara killed her – _murdered_ her while they were standing face to face? What if she was aware the whole time?"

All of a sudden he was on his feet, pacing back and forth, waving his hands angrily. "They didn't know her! Half of the people out there, they didn't know her! Not like I did…" The anger was gone as quickly as it had arrived and Jubilee watched him pace up and down like a caged animal. "I loved her, Jubes. I really did, and she stomped on my heart like…like I was worthless. And now she's gone…and I'll never know if she loved me back. Never…"

Jubilee watched him for a long moment before getting to her feet, reaching into the pocket of her black suit jacket. "I don't know what's in these, Bobby. I…I probably should have given them to you when I got back but to be honest, with what happened with Cara and Northstar, I forgot I had them. I didn't want the others to know…I knew they were personal." She pressed the two letters into his hand and went on tiptoe to brush his cheek with her lips. "I am so, so sorry for your loss."

The sincerity in her voice finally broke through the carefully constructed shield against his emotions that he'd built when he'd heard Lorna was dead, and he closed his eyes, gripping the envelopes tightly.

When Jean entered the garden to tell them that it was time, she turned the corner to find Bobby sobbing against Jubilee's shoulder, a piece of paper held loosely in his hand. /Jubilee?/

/He loved her./ She answered simply, adjusting her hold on him to cradle his head against her. /And she loved him. It's ok, I got him…/

Jean hesitated but finally nodded and left. Bobby needed someone to be there for him, and only him.

XXXxxxXXX

While the funeral was hard, the wake afterwards was harder. After the service, and after the food had been handed out, Scott found himself hiding in a corner behind a large potted plant, a paper plate in hand and a worried look on his face. Worried that someone might come and talk to him again. He'd already been cornered by five people, three demanding to know what proof he had that Vectress was the one that had killed Lorna, and two others telling him that they'd better stop bad-mouthing the Super to people.

Sighing, he dropped the sandwich he'd been holding onto the plate and put it onto a table, the mouthful he'd eaten turning to ash in his mouth.

Sighing softly, he almost jumped when he felt Jean behind him, her arms wrapping around his stomach. "You look lost." She whispered into his ear and he shook his head, feeling her fingers slip in between his.

"Not lost. Worried. And a little afraid that I'm going to be lynched before the night is out." He admitted as she laid her chin on his shoulder, resting her head against his.

"They are just in shock…but that's neither here nor there…Jubilee just contacted me. She says she needs you to go down to the Media Room. She's seen something that might require our attention. Do you want to go down and check up on her?"

He finally looked at her and his grateful smile was the only answer she needed. "Don't take too long." She cautioned him as he walked quickly through the crowd towards the elevator.

When he got to the Media Room, he found Jubilee staring up at the bank of screens that lined the walls of the room, most showing News Reports. The ones on the far side of the small room showed the security cameras for the mansion, but Jubilee completely ignored them, instead concentrating on the screen directly in front of her.

"What have we got?" He asked, quickly undoing his tie and grabbing a chair.

"A message came through a few minutes ago. The transmission was garbled – I cleaned it up as best I could but it's still pretty staticky, and very short. It wasn't a call from a normal phone – vid-link more than likely-" She broke off as Emma walked in with Angelo at her heels and smiled. "You two are skipping the food too?" She asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Jean said you had something…well?" Emma asked, ignoring her.

Without waiting for an answer, Scott hit the playback button and winced. Jubilee was right; the static was dreadful. After a few minutes of replaying it, he finally managed to work out what was being said.

"Have you any idea what he was talking about?" Jubilee asked quietly, and Scott nodded absently.

"A bit…Spilios Patras is an employee of Charles's in New York. Not a mutant, but he keeps his ear to the ground for us."

"Not an agent then?" Emma asked carefully, and Scott nodded.

"Not an agent. Actually, he's a Lawyer." A brief smile flashed across his face and he continued, "Sounds like something is happening down there. Jubilee, have you managed to work out where the transmission came from? If he's in trouble and needs our help he probably isn't calling from New York."

Jubilee turned back to the computer, shaking her head. "No. I'm good at hacking, Scott, not tracking. If you want tracking, get Hank or Kitty down here."

XXXxxxXXX

Hank was out of the question. The gentle mutant was watching his friend quite closely to make sure that he didn't go haring off to get drunk again, but Kitty quietly put down her plate and left her team mates, phasing down through the levels until she reached the right floor.

"What's up?" She asked, taking a seat beside Jubilee. She was amazed when the younger girl slid away from the keyboard and gestured to it. "I'm no good at tracking…or at least, you are a lot quicker than me. We need to find out where that transmission came from."

Logan's former protégé stared at his current and made a surprised face.

"I know when I'm beat, Pride." Jubilee smirked, but she watched her carefully as she navigated the computer system, obviously storing information away for later use. Finally, Kitty nodded, holding up her hand to catch Scott's attention. "I got it. The transmission came from an office in New York. Registered to a guy called Spilios Patras, in a building owned by Professor Charles Xavier. Here's the address."

Emma and Scott shared a look while Jubilee watched them carefully. "So, what exactly did this Spilios guy do for the Professor, anyhow? Not that many people know us to sue…"

Scott's long look with Emma turned even longer, and he shrugged. "As far as I know, he handles the minor day to day lawyer things, and also keeps an eye on matters abroad…in case any of us get into any major trouble out of the USA. He pretty much knows where every single mutant that wears our insignia is at all times…"

"Suit up?" Jubilee asked, her hand already on the door handle. She didn't need to see his face – the quiet sigh was enough to make her open the door and head for the locker rooms. "Emma, you, Jubilee and Remy go. You are in charge, Remy is your second. Find out if he is ok, and if something's happened, investigate. Keep it low-key though. We don't need anything plastered across the news. Check in for further instructions if needed."

"Scott, I'll work on the transmission – see if I can clean it up a bit more…" Kitty piped up, a serious look on her face as she got out of her chair. "I hate funerals…"

Scott was about to object, but seeing the look in her eyes, nodded. "Fine. Emma, check in when you land. I'll have Bishop manning the comm. room."

XXXxxxXXX

When Emma reached the Blackbird, she was surprised and slightly dismayed to see Bobby standing in front of Jubilee, the girl arguing with him against going.

"Jubes, I'm useless here. My mind…all I'm thinking about is her. If I get out of here…I can focus on something else. I _need_ to focus on something else-" He stressed, gripping her biceps tightly.

"If you so much as take a step out of line, Drake, you will believe you are a frog for the rest of the year." Emma snapped, grabbing him by the collar and pulling him towards the steps to the jet. "Jubilation, get buckled in. You will pilot. It's been too long since you've flown. I want to see how much your skills have suffered."

Jubilee rolled her eyes, but slipped into the pilots seat, putting on the headset and safety harness. "New York is right below Washington, right?"

There was silence in the cabin, and Jubilee snickered. "Relax guys, I aced my geography exam, remember?"

Beside her, Emma rolled her eyes and sat back as the girl easily guided the jet up into the air. It didn't take long to get to the coordinates, and with the jet in stealth mode, she landed it on top of the building, cutting out the engines. "What's the game plan?"

"Jubilee, you, Bobby and Remy will go down to the office and see what is going on. I will stay in the jet and keep an eye out for the police. If you spot anything out of the ordinary, call."

Remy led the way down the stairs to the floor directly below the roof, padding noiselessly down the corridor to the Lawyer's office. The rest of the building was empty, being owned entirely by Charles, and when they entered the reception area, all there mutants went on high alert.

/Emma, the place is trashed. Past trashed…even the light fixtures have been ripped out./

Up in the Jet, Emma looked momentarily worried at the radio transmission. /Any sign of Patras?/

The three mutants shared a look, and Remy advanced further into the interior office, a handful of charged cards lighting the way. Emma's patience wore thin at the lengthy delay until finally the Cajun replied; /Oui. Many, many signs. Dere's a body…in a way. Jubilee, stay right where you are. I don' want you to see this./

Jubilee glared at him, and peaked around the corner, grimacing. "Jesus…" Pressing her finger against the small radio hooked over her ear she continued; /Emma, he was ripped apart. There's blood and guts everywhere…/ she took a step inside the inner door, but Bobby shared a look with Remy and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Go keep a look out at the door. Please." He added when she glared up at him, and shaking her head, she went to the main door and crouched down low, warily watching the hall in both directions.

/Emma?/

/Stay put, I'm contacting base to find out what Xavier want's us to do with this./

Jubilee sighed and glanced over her shoulder as Bobby began to pick through the pieces of paper. "I'd say we should grab his computer, or at least the hard drive, and probably any files he's got on us that's irreplaceable. Incinerate everything else. If the cops come, they'll start poking their noses around. If Scott was even half-right, then there's more information in this room than we'd like anybody to get their hands on, least of all the authorities."

Remy grunted, trying to lift a filing cabinet up from the floor. "Oui, however, if you could point out to me which part amongst all of dis crap is de memory, I would be shocked."

Jubilee switched places with Bobby, steeling herself and her gut not to react to the bloody carnage, and with a slight shudder, she began to filter through the remnants of the computer that were littered around the room, wincing every time she came across a piece of Xavier's former lawyer. "This is all toast." She sighed, finally locating and placing the right chips into the pouch at the back of her uniform. After a looking around a little bit longer, her eyes narrowed and she began to check the visible floorboards, finally grabbing a piece of wood and shoving it all to the side.

"Lee, what have you got? Bobby asked from the door, looking puzzled.

"Loose floorboard." She muttered as she struggled to free it from it's housing. When it came away, it was obviously purpose built, and her frown grew when she discovered a small but deep safe underneath the floor.

"And Bingo was his name-o. Remy, I need you." She held up her hand, and pointed down at the hole. Remy squeezed her shoulder, giving her silent praise, and began to try to pick the lock.

"Remy, I thought you were, like king of the safes?" She asked when it became obvious he was having trouble, and he flicked a stern glance at her.

"Dis is a state of de art safe, petite. But-" he opened it with a satisfied grin and a flourish, "it cannot compete with a state of the art thief." He moved aside and she put her hand down into the space, coming out with a handful of memory chips and paper files, all undamaged. She handed them off to Remy, who placed them into the pocket of his long coat and when he moved to help her up, she shook her head. "There's something else in there; at the bottom. Hang on, it's deeper than I thought." She strained to reach the bottom shelf of the oddly shaped safe, her shoulder jamming against the door as her fingers barely grazed the black fabric at the bottom.

"Remy, go find something I can use to hook this up. I can't reach it, and your shoulder isn't going to fit through the gap.

Remy nodded, and she kept at trying to reach the fabric, frowning as her fingers grazed something that felt like cord. Straining even further, and wedging her shoulder even tighter into the gap, she finally snagged something and pulled it out with a triumphant smile.

Opening the drawstring, her smile faltered and she made a face. "I got it, Remy. It's just a dumb ornament." She muttered, and in the outer office, Remy rolled his eyes.

"Fine, petite. Keep looking in dere. Me'n Bobby are gonna check the other rooms, 'k?"

Jubilee nodded and opened the bag further, frowning. The dull brown stone ball was virtually invisible in the gloom and she wandered towards the window, to look at it properly in the faint light from the alley.

After a few seconds, the hairs on the back of her head began rising, and she turned around, realising that the shadows seemed to be seething behind her. Taking a step towards the outside office where she thought Remy and Bobby were, she pulled the drawstrings on the bag closed. "Guys? Weird things happening in here-!" She broke off with a yelp as Victor Creed appeared out of nowhere, launching himself at her. She bounded out of the way of his attack, springing off the opposite wall before landing gracefully, the stone ball still in her hand.

"Gimmie it, Bitch." He growled, and Jubilee's eyes widened as he advanced into the faint light coming in from the tall windows. In that moment, she realised what had been so 'hinky' about Freakshow and Vectress, and it was exactly the same as Sabertooth. Instead of his eyes being blue, they were black, and not just the irises. The entire eyeball, whites and all were a dark, inky black.

"Whadya want, Sabey-baby?" She snapped, holding up her hands defensively, the bag dangling from her wrist. "Why don't you find some nice wool to play with Puddytat…?" **/Emma, I need backup – NOW! Sabertooth Attack!/**

Up in the Jet, Emma bounded for the hatch. **/Creed is in the office with Jubilee/ **she shouted telepathically, and down the hall, Remy dropped his lock picks and followed Bobby back into the office just in time to see Creed jump for Jubilee, claws glinting in the faint light of the room. To Bobby's eye, things seemed to go in slow motion as they ran into the room; Remy reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a handful of cards, charging them and throwing them at the feral as he descended on Jubilee. As Bobby iced up, Jubilee began to back flip to try to avoid the lethal claws as they descended on her. As the claws came down, her foot collided with the glass from the window, shattering it, and she disappeared out the window. Creed immediately recovered from his failed attack, roaring his displeasure as he bounded against the floor, onto the wall and then out the window after her.

"Jubilee!" Remy jumped onto the window frame just as the others reached them, and hopped down onto the fire escape directly below, realising that Jubilee had missed landing on it and was hanging from one of the railings a story below. As he landed, he threw a full deck of charged cards at Creed as the feral swung for her, claws aimed at her face.

She let go as the cards found their mark and grabbed the railing one flight lower, cringing as Creed tumbled past, his fur on fire.

"Petite, what de hell is going on?" She looked up to find Remy hanging over the railing staring down at her.

"I don't know!" She shouted up at him petulantly. "Shadows started moving weird and he appeared and went for me!"

Remy's eyes flitted to the street below, noting that Creed was nowhere to be found, and held out his hand beckoning her up. "Pull yourself up, Petite, an' we'll find out what's got him so riled up." Emma appeared beside him, her face creased with confusion as Jubilee hooked her arm over the railing and began to swing her legs up. All of a sudden her eyes widened and her grip slipped as she felt something grab a hold of her ankle and pull sharply.

"Guys, he's got me!" She screeched as the weight grew unbearable and she was forced to let go. Remy cried out as she disappeared tumbled downwards, the larger mutant grabbing her around the middle as they struggled for ownership of the bag as they fell.

Emma and Bobby barrelled down the steps to the ground, but Remy leant over the railing, watching as they landed; Jubilee on top of Creed. She immediately twisted in his tight grip and lashed out with her powers, catching him in the jugular with a handful of paffs. She didn't flinch as blood sprayed across her face and torso, but rolled away as he gurgled a cry of anger, trying to stop the bleeding with his massive clawed hands.

While he was preoccupied, she unzipped her uniform and dropped the contents of the bag into her cleavage, zipping it back up quickly. Bending down, she grabbed a rock from the ground and put it into the bag. Holding the strings, she began to spin it and launched it at him, catching him in the throat as he struggled to stand, sending him back down to the ground.

Remy smiled appreciatively, vaulting over the side of the fire escape and landing with cat-like grace, bo-staff and a deck of cards in hand.

"You are outnumbered, Creed. I suggest you leave before things get out of hand." Emma declared, morphing into her diamond form, coming to stand between the end of the alley and him.

With Remy and the others surrounding him, he growled and stood shakily, the loss of blood taxing his healing powers. He growled loudly, and Jubilee shook her head, moving into a fighting stance, "Why don't you just leave while you have the chance."

Creed flexed his fingers and his claws extended. He could smell the scent of fear on the small breeze that drifted past her, and he smiled evilly, revealing his pointed incisors. "I can smell your fear. Smells good. Smell better when I tear you apart." He ignored those around him, keeping his eyes fixed on her and took a step closer.

Jubilee's chin rose and her fists were suddenly surrounded with a handful of pure plasma, hotter and brighter than the firework-like paffs she normally produced. "This is your last chance, Butt-face…"

His feral smile grew and Jubilee only had a split seconds warning before something hit her in the back, sending her flying. She rolled back to her feet, just in time to get caught in the side by a side swipe by Creed, and flew into a pile of trash bags, shaking her head as she felt a hand clamp onto her shoulder, dragging her upright. Her hands were knocked aside, and she found herself staring into Vectress's face. A quick flash of paffs distracted the woman, and Jubilee moved away, preparing herself for the fight.

As she and Vectress traded kicks and punches, she could see Emma and Bobby taking on Sabertooth out of the corner of her eye, and she wondered where Remy was until a bo-staff snaked out and tripped Vectress, giving Jubilee a chance to catch her breath. A few seconds later, there was movement at the mouth of the alley, and she cursed loudly when she saw Magneto and Mystique advancing on them.

"Guys, more company!" She shouted, and Bobby encased Creed fully in ice, turning to see who was now coming.

"Crap!"

To their surprise, Vectress took two steps back and jumped into the shadows, leaving Sabertooth behind as he broke out of his ice-tomb. The feral snarled angrily and dove for the nearest patch of darkness, disappearing completely.

"I mean you no harm." Magneto called out, holding up his hand in a gesture of peace.

Emma raised a wary eyebrow but began to relax, watching Mystique as she sized up the group.

"Really? 'Cos last time we checked, Creed was working for you." Jubilee called out as she plucked at her blood soaked arm, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"I can assure you, he is no longer in my employ." Magneto declared imperiously. "He murdered Blindspot and Toad three days ago. I have been trying to track him but each time we come across him, he disappears into the shadows. He must have another mutant assisting him with teleportation powers." He sounded angry and Remy and Emma shared a long look.

"That would explain why Charles could not contact you…Vectress was fighting with Creed. We have reason to believe that she murdered another X-Man." Emma murmured quietly and stepped closer, losing her diamond form and sweeping a loose lock of hair behind her ear. "Eric, it was Polaris."

Magneto blinked and shook his head, unsure if he had heard her correctly. "Polaris...Lorna? Is dead? I don't believe you…"

Emma nodded again, and Jubilee came to stand beside her, looking confused. "Scott and Jubilee found her…she was buried this morning. I'm sorry Magnus, but she is gone."

Magneto stared at her for what felt like an eternity before bowing his head and blowing out a long, tortured breath. After struggling with his emotions for a moment he nodded slowly. "Thank you for telling me, Emma. I did not know my daughter well…but she will be avenged."

"By all of us. By the first to get their hands on her." Bobby swore emphatically, staring at the Leader of the Brotherhood. Eric looked at him strangely but nodded slowly, hearing the raw pain behind the words. This man knew his daughter well. And would make sure she was avenged if he could not.

Beside Emma, Jubilee's eyebrows shot up high and she blinked rapidly in shock. That was a tit-bit of information she _didn't_ know. She felt Remy touch her shoulder, and she looked up at him, trying to control her facial expression.

"Little known fact, petite. In dis business, nearly everyone have skeletons in their closets they don' talk about." He murmured softly, and she nodded, knowing the truth behind his words.

"Ok guys, hate to break up this little chat, but you do realise we're standing in an alley with a dead body in the building behind us, Remy has half the computer chips and files from his office and there's a good chance that the cops will turn up at any point…time to retreat?" Jubilee gestured to the roof and Emma nodded and turned back to Magneto.

"Creed and Vectress could be anywhere by now. Why don't you both come back to the mansion and we can talk this over with Charles. People are acting strangely and we need to get to the bottom of this…or at least come up with a plan as how to stop them."

They all turned towards the fire escape, missing Mystique freeze in place as her yellow eyes swiftly covered with a film of black. As she took another step her form rippled and changed to that of Logan and she broke into a run, barrelling towards the nearest person.

Hearing the fast footsteps approaching, the others turned just in time to see Jubilee jump at Magneto, pushing him out of the way. They both rolled as they hit the ground and were on their feet in an instant. Jubilee had to move quickly to avoid the lethal claws as they slashed out towards her, jumping up into the air and grabbing the bottom of the fire escape as Bobby sent a stream of ice at the shape-changer, his face grim as Logan/Mystique launched herself upwards, swinging for both sides of the bar Jubilee was hanging from. The claws cut through the metal easily and Mystique completed the move by head-butting Jubilee, knocking her against the red brick wall behind her.

When she landed, Mystique was in Storm's form, and Emma and Magneto dove for either side of the alley as a bolt of lightning struck the concrete between them, shattering it.

"Forget someone?" Remy asked behind her, striking out with his bo-staff. It caught her in the middle of her back and she stumbled out onto the concrete she had just blasted, losing her footing on the broken surface.

Bobby grabbed Jubilee's arm and tugged her upright, keeping his eyes trained on the black-eyed mutant. Remy squared up to her again, bo-staff twirling in one hand and a deck of cards spread out in the other.

To his surprise, Mystique hissed at him angrily and turned on her heel, running away from them and after a couple of steps soaring up into the air.

"Well, that's not right…" Bobby mused quietly, breaking the silence and Magneto and Emma turned to stare at him with a mixture of quiet disbelief and shock. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't she _not_ take on the powers of the people she mimics?" He continued as Remy stowed his bo-staff away in his long coat.

"You are right. Dat was wrong…what the hell is going on here?" The Cajun declared angrily, staring at Magneto who was still looking slightly shaken.

"I don't know. But I intend to find out."

Emma sighed, her eyes flicking back up at the sky. "Everyone, back to the jet."

Bobby let go of Jubilee's elbow and pushed her towards the fire escape, taking up the rear as the teenager slowly made her way upwards. He pushed her onwards as she lagged behind the others and when he got to the jet he rolled his eyes as he realised that Remy had left the co-pilots seat empty, choosing to sit opposite Magneto, keeping a close eye on the leader of the Brotherhood, the X-Men's sometime enemy.

As they rose into the air, the jet suddenly wobbled dangerously and pulled off to the side. It took all of Bobby and Emma's strength to pull it up out of the range of the buildings that surrounded it, and Emma flicked a switch, focusing on keeping the jet level.

"It seems we had a visitor while we were fighting. The radio and flight stabilisers have been damaged. I suggest you both buckle yourselves in. This is not going to be a smooth flight or landing."

XXXxxxXXX

At the Wake, Charles began to relax as the last of the non-affiliated superheroes finally left, leaving the room filled mostly with members of the X-Men, Excalibur and Alpha Flight. He looked around for Logan, belatedly remembering that he'd taken off an hour before for Harry's, declaring that the scent of so much anger and sorrow was making his head hurt. In the corner he realised that two former Supers he hadn't seen in what felt like a lifetime were standing apart from everyone, looking as if they felt out of place.

/Bishop?/

Down in the comm. room, Bishop shook his head, re-checking the radio frequency. /Nothing, Professor. We've had radio-silence since Emma called in for further instructions./

Up in the ballroom, Charles sighed heavily and approached Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl. Bob Parr looked up as he approached and smiled gently, his glass dwarfed in his massive hand.

"Professor…" Helen greeted him with a handshake and a gentle hug. "It's so good to see you again; and walking!"

Charles nodded, his face solemn, and Helen took another look around the room, realising that the frayed emotions and taut expressions of the X-Men might be more than sadness at the passing of a friend. "Ok, what's wrong?" She demanded in her Georgian drawl, putting her hand on her hip.

Charles shook his head with a quiet sigh, knowing he couldn't fob her off with a lie. They'd known each other too long though they hadn't seen each other in many years.

"We received a garbled transmission from a friend earlier this evening, just after the service ended. A team went out to find out what had happened…they have missed two radio-checks. If we do not hear from them in the next twenty minutes I will send another team after them. But I'm sure it is nothing to worry about, so please, fill your glasses and help yourselves to some food."

Elastigirl snorted, her red hair swinging around her face as she shook her head. "You have gotta be kidding me! If you need someone to go with you guys, just say the word. You know you can count on us, Charles."

Charles found himself smiling for the first time that day at the earnestness of the woman's declaration, and he patted her shoulder comfortingly. "I know, Helen; believe me, I know who I can count on. And I have always been able to count on you. And of course you too, Robert."

Bob sighed and shook his head. "Charles, for the last time, its Bob. Call me Bob, please. And we'll be ready to roll; you just need to say the word."

Charles nodded appreciatively, patting Helens hand as it lay between his. "Of course. I didn't realise you both knew Polaris." He changed the subject quickly and Helen reddened slightly.

"Actually, we don't." Bob murmured with embarrassment. "We were coming for a different reason. Didn't know there was a funeral until we arrived. Logan told us what happened…um…Helen?"

"Charles, we were wondering if you would have room for two more here. Y'see, Vi and Dash – they're two of our kids, they're getting ready to go off to college and I know Bob and me would be happier if they had some kind of structured training under their belts before they hit the real world…we can't provide that – we don't have the facilities you do. Would it be possible for them to stay for a while. Maybe go on some missions and some danger-room sim-"

She broke off as Charles's eyes went distant, a clear sign he was having a telepathic conversation, and across the room, Jean froze, listening to a voice only she and Charles could hear.

After a few seconds, Charles blinked and raised his head, his voice booming out across the room; "X-Men, Emma's team are on their way back. The radio is disabled, and they are having trouble with the stabilisers. They will be attempting a landing on the front lawn in a few minutes. Prepare for a crash!"

Around the room, people dropped plates and glasses and dashed for the doors to the lawn, pouring out in a steady stream, eyes already trained on the night sky.

After a minute the lights of the jet appeared in the distance, weaving as it approached. Jean braced herself to catch the jet if it couldn't manage the landing on its own as those around her held their breaths, and she could hear Hank behind her, barking orders at Moira and Monet to go down to the Med-Lab and begin turning on equipment.

It was a credit to Bobby and Emma's skills as pilots that they only took out one bush and dug a furrow into the well manicured lawn as they landed, and after a long minute the hatch opened and Bobby trotted down the steps, looking over his shoulder anxiously as Magneto appeared behind him.

**/Eric?…we need to talk. I have some bad ne-/**

**/I know, Charles. Emma told me./** Magneto held his eyes for a long moment, and nodded almost imperceptibly as Remy and Emma followed him down the steps. "Thank you for burying her."

Charles nodded in return and looked past him to the platinum blonde as she stared at the both of them.

"Sabertooth attacked the Lawyer." She announced, folding her arms in front of her chest. "His remains were scattered throughout the rooms, as were the remains of the furniture and fixtures in the office. Jubilee managed to locate the safe and Remy has most of what was contained within. While he and Bobby were checking the other rooms on the floor, she stayed in the office. Creed somehow appeared in the room and attacked her. The fight moved to the street, and Vectress appeared. When Magneto and Mystique appeared, they disappeared into the shadows." Emma supplied quickly as she trotted down the steps.

"Sabertooth was not working for me." Magneto declared quickly to forestall any questions. "He murdered Blindspot…and I am finding it difficult to track him down. He must have a teleporter working with him; he keeps disappearing into the shadows. As we were making our way to the jet, Mystique…" He shook his head, still unable to understand it all, and Emma continued for him;

"She changed into Logan's form and went for Magneto. We fought her and she changed into Storm and flew away."

A cacophony of disagreement rose up around them, and both she and Magneto held up their hands for silence. "I don't care what you say, she flew!" Emma snapped, glaring at the loudest naysayer's.

"She did." Bobby declared, keeping his eyes on Charles. "She ran a couple of steps and disappeared up into the sky. Ask Jubilee; she saw it all too – actually, we all did…"

He looked around for Jubilee to agree with him, and frowned. "Jubes?"

His frown grew as Jubilee walked unsteadily down the steps, one hand keeping a fierce grip on the railing as she pinched the bridge of her nose tightly.

"Not a word, Ice-Cube." She snapped, keeping her eyes on the ground as she stepped onto the ground. She walked hesitantly through the crowd with her head bent forwards, ignoring the stares. "And before anyone says anything about the med-lab, it's just a nosebleed and a headache, and I'd challenge anyone to say different if they got nutted by Logan. Most of the blood isn't mine, so you can back off Beast. I'm going to have a shower, and if you get in my way I'm gonna start blasting first and apologising later."

Beast's jaw clenched, but he stayed where he was, his fingers twitching as Moira gaped.

"That girl needs a short sharp visit from the smack fairy." She muttered once Jubilee was out of earshot, and Hank found himself nodding as Bobby and Remy began to wilt beneath the stares they were getting.

"Mystique head butted her and the blood is Sabertooth's. She blew out his throat after he dragged her from the fire escape." Bobby offered quietly, beginning to scuff the toe of his boot in the grass. "I kept an eye on her in the jet. She didn't go unconscious or anything…just a nosebleed…"

"So," Magneto quickly changed the subject to what he felt was important; "Mystique, Sabertooth and Vectress are working together and are actively seeking out and murdering members of their teams…why?"

Paige watched as they all looked at each other helplessly and shared a look with Angelo and Jono, giving a small nod and slipping away from the group. She and the Latino had had a long talk during the wake and she knew she needed to apologise. When she reached Jubilee's room, she knocked quietly and entered, spotting the top of a bloody uniform on the ground and the bathroom door open.

"Jubilee…I'm sorry…I'm sorry about the other day. You were right and I was wrong. Can you forgive me?"

There was a long silence, and finally a hard sigh echoed in the bathroom. "Paige, if you could get me some Advil right now, I'd forgive you for chopping off both my legs and throwing me to the wolves."

Paige hurried to her room and opened a drawer, selecting a full pill bottle of painkillers, and ran back. Opening the bathroom door, she found Jubilee staring into the mirror with bloodshot eyes, bracing herself with one hand on the sink as the other felt gingerly at her nose. "Here's some water." She murmured as she held out both objects, raking her lower lip with her teeth.

Jubilee sighed again and sat down heavily on the lid of the toilet, ripping off the cap and shaking two out into a shaking hand.

"You ok?"

"I just got nutted…yeah…I'll be fine, Paige." She swallowed the pills and drank deeply, handing over the glass and finally looking at her friend. "You just scared me when you ran after Freakshow like that. Please, don't do it again."

Paige nodded and perched on the side of the bath, wetting a washcloth and tilting Jubilee's head back, gently cleaning the blood away from her face. "Jubes…do you ever get the feeling that something bad is about to happen?"

Jubilee's eyes flicked up to meet Paige's and she nodded slowly. "Yeah…right about when I found Lorna's body…and then when Creed appeared out of the shadows in the office…it's giving me the-"

"Heebie Jeebies? Me too. Something keeps telling me that something bad is gonna happen..."

"Me too…" Jubilee swallowed convulsively and shuddered. "I don't know…Paige, do me a favour, if you get that feeling again, just come to me. I like to know I'm not going crazy…and I'll promise to do the same. The Elders and Betters don't seem to have the same common sense as we do…and…I don't know, I think there's…" She grimaced a wry smile and shrugged, "To quote the Terminator; 'there's a storm coming'."

Paige nodded, feeling a shiver run down her spine and she held out her hand to Jubilee, helping her to stand. "Let's get you cleaned up and back downstairs so we can find out what the hell is going on."

Jubilee let her friend help strip her down to her underwear and help her into the bath. Jubilee let her wash the blood out of her hair and finally shook her head. "Just head downstairs, Paige. I can handle it from here. Find out if the Elders have worked out what the frick is going on."

Paige nodded grudgingly and handed her the soap, disappearing out the door, leaving Jubilee to turn on the taps and wash the rest of the blood away.

XXXxxxXXX

Paige found everyone in the briefing room just as Magneto stood to leave. "I have delayed tracking Creed too long…and I now have Vectress to search for also. Charles, you and I will speak again soon-"

"Eric, stay." Charles stood slowly and Eric closed his eyes, breathing heavily. "Please. We will help you with your search for Creed. If he, Vectress…and Mystique and Freakshow are working together, we will have a better chance of finding them if we pool our resources."

Finally, the white haired mutant nodded and murmured his agreement. "I will stay…though we don't even know what we are looking for…"

Guardian stood, sharing a look with Sasquatch and cleared his throat. "I will have my people keep an eye and ear out for word on them. If we hear, I will contact you Charles."

He swept out of the room, the rest of her team following him and Emma sighed, getting to her feet. "I'll check on Jubilee." She murmured, and looked at Paige, realising she'd just entered the room.

"She's just cleaning up…"

Emma nodded and followed the others out of the room, not surprised when Jean and Storm joined her, Rogue lagging behind, lost in her own thoughts.

"Jubilee…" Emma tapped on the door and strode into the sitting area, rolling her eyes at the mess on the floor. Picking up dirty uniform and a small brown stone ball she'd found on the floor beneath it, she opened the bathroom door and threw the uniform at the hamper as Jean and Ororo checked the bedroom. "Jubilee?" Sighing, Emma twitched aside the shower curtain and found her staring at the taps, a puzzled expression on her face. "Em…there was something off about Freakshow and Vectress and Sabertooth…and I can't remember…I can't put my finger on it…did you notice anything?"

Emma shook her head and handed the girl a towel, pulling out the stopper on the bath.

"No. We reached no answer on the 'why' question, by the way. And Magneto is staying for a while. Now, hold this and let me look at your face."

Jubilee sat obediently on the side of the tub, absently playing with the ball as Emma poked and prodded at her nose, eliciting a wince and a gasp of pain. "I don't think it's broken."

"Could have fooled me…" Jubilee muttered, finally slapping her hand away. "Seriously, though, Emma, there was something really weird about them aside from the whole 'going insane and attacking team mates' thing." She shook her head, obviously annoyed with herself and let Emma lead her into the main room where the three women were waiting. "I know I had it before, during the fight, but it's gone again…stupid brain."

Jean looked sympathetic and guided her inside the bedroom. "Jubilee, you just got a bad crack on the head. I've been head-butted by Logan myself once. I know how hard his skull is, even if it was by accident. I couldn't see straight for a day."

"See straight is fine…kind of…thinking straight…whole 'nuther ballgame." Jubilee let the red-head slip a nightgown over her head and clambered onto the bed, not bothering to get underneath the covers. "Wake me when the room stops spinning." She mumbled, closing her eyes. Rogue set the bottle of painkillers on the bedside locker with a fresh glass of water and smiled fondly at the sleeping girl.

"Kid's never changed, has she…" She drawled and Emma rolled her eyes again.

"Yes, she is still as injury prone as always and still a pain in the ass when it comes to getting injured."

XXXxxxXXX

Logan eased inside the bedroom, sniffing at the air. He could smell the faint tang of Sabertooth's blood in the air, mingled with Jubilee's, and the thought drove a shiver down his spine. He'd been greeted by Bishop when he'd returned to the mansion, and when the time-traveller had told him that Jubilee had been in a fight with not only his own mortal enemy, but in a way he himself, he'd immediately hurried upstairs.

Seeing her twisted in the covers made him smile, though, and he gently tugged the blankets away and covered her properly, taking the stone ball out of her hand before setting a chair beside the bed and gingerly putting his feet on the covers, loosening his hated tie as he scooched down for a long night's vigil. He knew she was fine, but he also knew that he wanted…needed to be with her, if only to soothe his frazzled nerves. "Damnit, kid, why do you do this to me?" He muttered, rubbing his face tiredly. "Anybody else, I'd know they were fine and be happy. But you…" He shook his head and leant forwards, tucking the blankets around her neck tighter. "You get me. You get to me and you get me… damnit…" He closed his eyes and listened to her breathe, letting the sound soothe him as he began to toss the ball up into the air.

XXXxxxXXX

Jubilee knew she had to be dreaming. She remembered the fight with Mystique, and going to bed…Only now she was standing under a black sky, on a sandy landscape that looked vaguely familiar. Looking around with wide eyes, she flinched when a small white light darted in front of her face. The moment she saw it, it was like a switch was turned on in her mind, and all the memories of her time in the cavern beneath the temple came flooding back.

"You!" Jubilee snapped, and the small orb bobbed closer.

/Yes, me./ the voice sounded amused, and Jubilee folded her arms in front of her chest, clearly _not_ amused.

"What the hell is going on? Where is this? What are you doing to me?"

/This is a lot of things./ the orb began to grow, and Jubilee stepped away from it as it grew bigger and bigger, changing shape until a shining white, almost see-through figure stood in front of her. /It is…difficult. To explain, I mean./ the orb-come-woman murmured, the words seeming to bypass Jubilee's ears, lodging straight into her mind. /You are still at home, safe in your bed. But at the same time, you are in my world now./

Jubilee opened and closed her mouth, but finally shook her head. "Okaaaaay. So, what do you want that you're dragging me out of my mind?"

/I told you that the nightmare comes. You are only now beginning to see the effects of his work. And it is only a taste of what is to come if you and your people do not stop him./

"Stop who? What's going on?"

The figure seemed to sigh and shook her head. /I cannot tell you much, child. Not that you will remember any of this conversation when you wake... But the stone you found in the Lawyer's safe, and the others like it are important in the fight against the Nightmare…the Shadow comes child, and you and your people are the only things that stand between him and your world. You _must not fail._ My people did. We fought him, and we failed; we succeeded only in holding him in place and setting him in his prison. And now he has been set free and he has turned to your world. If he wins…you will exist in eternal darkness. Nothing shall survive. I promise you that./

Jubilee sat down on the sand, looking up at the woman worriedly. "Ok…I'll buy that; if only 'cos of what's been happening the last few days…and about Jono and the Professor…why'd you do that, anyhow? And how come you are telling me this, and not the Prof or Scott? I'm just a grunt, lady. I don't make any decisions."

The figure sat in front of her, picking up a handful of sand and letting it trickle through her fingers as if it were the first time she had done so. /I needed a vessel. The mute and the cripple, they were almost suitable, but they were flawed. We fixed that, but we required your energy to do so...but when the time came, we found that they were not as suitable as you. And I am telling you this because I abide within you/

Jubilee shot to her feet, looking at her wildly. "You What!"

/I needed a vessel, child. Sit down!/ The figure snapped, and Jubilee's legs folded beneath her, dumping her back down onto the sand. /Your mental shields mean that I am practically invisible to him. If he found out I had was abroad in this world, he would destroy you and your people before we have a chance to defeat him. The cripple and the mute also have good psychic shields, but they are much weaker than yours when it comes to visibility. If the Shadow gets one whiff of a thought that I am here …/ she snapped her fingers and the sound had a finality that sent a shiver through Jubilee. /I cannot tell you what to do…but I know that the ability to stop him is within you and those like you. He will try to stop you, and use his Taken against you, but I have confidence in your people. You will triumph because you must./

Jubilee stared at her dumbly, trying to make sense of what she was saying. "He imprisoned your people?" She asked finally, and the figure hung her head.

/He destroyed most of our people, and those that remain are only shadows of our former selves. I left our sanctuary, because I am the strongest. But because I am so strong, he can sense me very easily. It is why I hide within you. He and his minions cannot feel me within you when I am in the background, so to speak. I will do what I can to help you child, but you must do most of this on your own. We cannot risk being found./

To give her credit, Jubilee thought, she did sound sorry and the teenager blew out a long breath, puffing out her lips. "Ok. Was it you that took over my body? Back in Utah…?"

/I tried, but it was difficult. I tried to encourage you to do what you could not bring yourself to do. You must survive for I must not be found./ she said it matter of factly and Jubilee pinched the bridge of her nose. /And I will do it again if needs be. You have much power inside you, fleshling. You fear to use it, and I will show you the way if I can./

"You took over my body…why don't you just do that all the time? You'd get this done quicker, and then you'd be gone and all will be right with the world and I can go back to being normal…well, my version of normal, anyway."

The shake of the figure's head was almost enough to make Jubilee weep. /I cannot. If I were to take over your body, I would use up too much of my energy, and increase the chance of him finding me. I can, however, nudge you in the right direction, as if your own subconscious was whispering to you. As it is, I can only talk to you like this because of extenuating circumstances. Your head wound has weakened the barrier between us, but it will not last for long. My kind have worked too long to have this ruined by acting rashly. Hundreds upon hundreds of years have passed since he took over my world, and it is only now that the pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. When the last piece appears, we will have our revenge. And you will have your victory./

They sat in silence as Jubilee absorbed what she had just been told, and the figure absently drew designs in the sand with her finger, waiting for the child to get her thoughts in order.

"In the caverns, you said I was going to be punished for trespassing. Is this my punishment? To have you within me?"

The figure slowly shook her head. /No, child. You will know when the time comes. I promise./

"Is there anything you _can_ tell me?" Jubilee asked stubbornly, and the figure smirked.

/Testy little thing, aren't you?/ beginning to laugh, she nodded and leant back on her arms, watching Jubilee fume. /I could tell you things…but you won't remember them…at least, not until you need it. In fact, you won't even remember this conversation." Again came the faintly sardonic smile, and Jubilee's eyes narrowed with annoyance. "All will become clear in time, my dear./

XXXxxxXXX

"'All will become clear in time' my ass…"

Logan's eyes flickered open at the muttered words and he bent over Jubilee, pulling the covers back slightly to see her face. She was still asleep and he smiled softly, tucking the sheets back into place.

Spotting a row of decorative stone balls on stands on her windowsill, he placed the ball he had been holding between them and slipped out of the room, easing out a crick in his back. Dawn was tingeing the sky orange and kicking the door to his own room shut behind him, he fell onto his bed, falling asleep instantly.

"…_**be treasured beyond your wildest dreams…"**_

"…_**hear my call…"**_

Bolting upright he groaned, rubbing at his temples, exhaustion waving over him. This was getting ridiculous. For five nights now he'd been having the same weird dream. Someone or something trying to let it into his brain.

Blinking tiredly, he pushed aside the covers and lurched his way down to Xavier's study, knocking on the door quietly.

"Enter."

Inside, Magneto and Charles sat in front of a dying fire, clearly still up from the night before. "Logan, what can I do for you?" Charles asked carefully, setting down the half-empty tumbler of whiskey he had been sipping at all night.

"Somebody's trying to get into my head, Chuck." Logan sat heavily on a chair beside his benefactor and touched his hand to his temple again. "I think. In my dreams. The last five nights it's been the same thing over and over…" He sent Xavier a baleful look and Charles and Magneto shared an unreadable glance.

"It's not me."

"Didn't say it was, Chuck. I'm just sayin' that somebody's tryin' to get into my brain. At first I thought it was just a dream, but tonight it was like they were tryin' to nudge me aside. It's getting more and more forceful…Like they want to take me over. I've had enough people messing with my mind over the years to know what it feels like when they are trying to take me over."

Magneto leant past Charles to stare at the Canadian. "Wolverine, what was the voice saying?" He asked quietly, and Charles looked at him, clearly confused.

"It'd do anything for me. I'd be loved. He knows how dark my heart is an' it don't bother him…he can give me whatever I want or need…that kind of stuff. Why?"

Sitting back in his chair, Magneto downed the last of his drink and set it down hard on the arm rest. "Mystique was complaining of bad dreams the past couple of days. She said it unsettled her. I laughed her off. I told her to say yes the next time and see where the dream would take her. I thought she was over reacting. Perhaps you are right Charles. It is a telepath controlling them."


	9. Dawning of the Light

"'All will become clear in time' my ass…"

Logan's eyes flickered open at the muttered words and he bent over Jubilee, pulling the covers back slightly to see her face. She was still asleep and he smiled softly, tucking the sheets back into place.

Spotting a row of decorative stone balls on stands on her windowsill, he placed the ball he had been holding between them and slipped out of the room, easing out a crick in his back. Dawn hadn't begun to touch the sky, and kicking the door to his own room shut behind him, he fell onto his bed, falling asleep instantly.

"…_**be treasured beyond your wildest dreams…"**_

"…_**hear my call…"**_

Bolting upright he groaned, rubbing at his temples, exhaustion waving over him. This was getting ridiculous. For five nights now he'd been having the same weird dream. And now he knew why; someone or something was trying to make him let it into his brain.

Blinking tiredly, he pushed aside the covers and lurched his way down to Xavier's suite, knocking on the door quietly.

"Enter."

Inside, Magneto and Charles sat in front of a dying fire, clearly still up from the night before. "Logan, what can I do for you?" Charles asked carefully, setting down the half-empty tumbler of whiskey he had been sipping at all night.

"Somebody's trying to get into my head, Chuck." Logan sat heavily on a chair beside his benefactor and touched his hand to his temple again. "I think. In my dreams. The last five nights it's been the same thing over and over…" He sent Xavier a baleful look and Charles and Magneto shared an unreadable glance.

"It's not me."

"Didn't say it was, Chuck. I'm just sayin' that somebody's tryin' to get into my brain. At first I thought it was just a weird dream, but tonight it was like they were tryin' to nudge me aside. It's getting more and more forceful…Like they want to take me over. I've had enough people messing with my mind over the years to know what it feels like when they are trying to take me over."

Magneto leant past Charles to stare at the Canadian. "Wolverine, what was the voice saying?" He asked quietly, and Charles looked at him, clearly confused.

"It'd do anything for me. He knows how dark my heart is an' it don't bother him…he can give me whatever I want or need…that kind of stuff. Why?"

Sitting back in his chair, Magneto downed the last of his drink and set it down hard on the arm rest. "Mystique was complaining of bad dreams the past couple of days. She said it unsettled her. I laughed her off. I told her to say yes the next time and see where the dream would take her. I thought she was over reacting. Perhaps you are right Charles. It is a telepath controlling them."

XXXxxxXXX

**"…come to me…"**

**"…I will be the family you seek…"**

**"…the one you need…"**

**"…let the shadow in your heart show you the way…"**

**"…be patient, my child, your time will come…**

In the messy bedroom, the silence continued to reign for a few moments before the figure underneath the covers snorted and turned onto its back, and a few moments later, loud snoring filled the air.

* * *

Magneto watched the sun rise higher over the trees and murmured his thanks to Charles as he was handed a cup of coffee. It was only a couple of hours since Logan had left them discussing how powerful a telepath would have to be to control so many minds, and since then the phone had been ringing almost nonstop. A worrying list was beginning to grow on Charles's desk as Agents and Operatives around the globe began to respond to a worrying request to check-in and update on odd behaviour from team mates and friends.

"How many now?"

Charles sighed and glanced at the list. "Too many."

Magneto sipped quietly and shook his head, watching a flock of birds burst from the trees, soaring up into the sky.

Behind him, Charles sighed, rubbing at his face in an uncharacteristic display of fragility. "I've asked Scott to try to contact Nick Fury. If a telepath has gone rogue and is targeting our people, then perhaps they are targeting civilian mutants also."

"Then you don't think they have just…"

Charles quickly shook his head. "No. I don't think they have just turned against us. Sabertooth…maybe. Mystique; it wouldn't be the first time she has turned on her team. But I've been talking to some of Vectress's friends. Apparently she is the kindest, nicest, sweetest person…you get the picture, Eric. And Freakshow…again, supposed to be a nice man. Sunfire…" He shook his head again, holding Magneto's gaze. "While there is a chance one of them might turn against their own people…five of them? Who have no connections to each other? So far as I know, Freakshow and Vectress have never met before. Nor have Vectress and Sunfire. I am worried, Eric. How many others have been turned against us? How many have not been identified? How many are hiding in the wings like Mystique. You said she gave no indication of siding with Sabertooth while you searched for him."

"She was angry." Magneto confirmed quietly. "So angry…Blindspot was her friend. They always got on well together. Perhaps your hypothesis is correct. It is a telepath controlling them." Taking in a deep breath, he changed the subject. "Has there been any indication why they murdered the Lawyer?"

Charles shook his head tiredly. "None. The paperwork revealed nothing we did not know already. The memory chips from the computer…Kitty and Henry have been working on it all night and Excalibur have agreed to loan Kitty to us for a time. They have managed to get some information, but not enough. And nothing that would lead to whatever is going on."

Magneto suppressed a growl and grabbed the coffee pot, pouring more coffee into his cup. "Then we have nothing."

"We have more than we had yesterday…and less than we will have tomorrow. Have faith, Eric."

Magneto snorted and unconsciously touched his forearm where the faded tattoo that the Nazi regime had forced on him lay. "I lost my faith in the higher powers a long time ago, Charles. These days, I believe only in my own powers."

"And I believe in that of my people." Charles advised him, coming to stand beside him at the window. "And in them, I have full faith."

* * *

Jubilee breezed past the open door where Kitty and Beast were working and stopped in her tracks, walking backwards until she was standing in front of it.

"Beast…can I have a word?" She asked softly, and got a harrumph and hunched shoulders in return. "Please?"

The shoulders hunched over even more and Kitty glanced over her shoulder, trying not to laugh at how childish the man with so many doctorates and certificates under his belt was being. Smiling to herself, she grabbed a coffee cup by her elbow and left the room, giving Jubilee a sly wink as she passed, making sure to shut the door behind her.

"Hank, I want to apologise for my behaviour last night. It was uncalled for, and…I'm sorry. You know I don't do well when I'm hurting…I'm not a good patient, and I'm not a good person, and I'm sorry. And I understand if you hate me and don't want to talk to me, I just…I just wanted to apologise and now I'll leave you alone."

She turned around and put her hand on the door handle and was about to turn it when a large, furry paw-like hand engulfed her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.

"You are a good person, Jubilee. Never let me hear you say otherwise."

She turned and found him staring seriously down at her, his eyes large and sad.

"I just-"

"I know." He smiled softly and clucked her under the chin, seeing the unshed tears in her eyes. "I know, Jubilee. And I know you do not like doctors…but I wish you would trust me more than you do. And Moira. We only have your best interests at heart."

"I trust you!" She protested, pouting slightly. "It's just…complicated Hank. I always trust you. I just need you to trust me that when I know I'm not badly injured, I can take care of myself, and-"

"No ands, Jubilee. And no buts. I know you can take care of yourself. But you need to understand that we need to be able to take care of you, too. The same as Scott and the others do, and even Logan when the situation warrants it. Do you ever see them declining medical attention?" His voice rose slightly as he tried to get his point across, the hand still resting on her shoulder increasing its force as he spoke. "Last night, Jubilee, you suffered a bad blow to the head by one of the strongest metals known to man. I don't care if it was beneath Mystique's skull, you still suffered a head injury and you would not let me near you! You could have had a serious concussion or bleed in the brain. You could have died in your sleep. In fact, if Logan had not watched over you last night, I would have brought you down here myself and tied you to the bed for observation!" He let out a long sigh and bowed his head. "I am not angry with you, Jubilee, but I am…peeved."

Head hanging low, Jubilee allowed him to lead her to the med-lab and suffered through a barrage of tests which culminated in a cat scan. All of which showed nothing more serious than bruises and a broken nose. Hank ignored the 'I told you so' look that Jubilee threw him when he gave her the all-clear.

Finally allowed to leave, she wandered through the empty halls until she found herself standing in the open doorway to the Monitor Room, watching Bishop on his hands and knees with his head underneath the console, checking wires.

"Are you going to stand there all day?" He asked sternly when he emerged and she shook her head, grabbing a chair and wheeling it over beside him.

"Sorry, was admiring the view." She joked, grabbing a headset. "What's going on?"

Bishop glanced down at her and sighed. "There's a camera down on the outer wall. I was trying to see if it is a technical problem or if the camera is just broken."

"And?"

"Broken." Bishop confirmed, tapping at the fuzzy screen. "There have been some birds nesting nearby. They might have interfered with the camera."

Sighing, Jubilee got back to her feet and opened a large storage locker behind them, reaching in and grabbing a handful of cables and a spare camera. "I got it, Bish. I'll head down there and see if I can fix it."

Bishop nodded gratefully and she gave him a lopsided grin, holding up the camera. "Bet you never thought you'd see the day that Jubilation Lee; toaster killer would be handling and fixing electronics!"

He laughed softly, an expression rarely seen on his dour face and nodded grudgingly as she trotted out the door. Stepping out into the strong sunlight, she blinked as heat waved over her and wiped a sheen of sweat from her forehead. The good weather that Storm had promised had finally arrived, and as she walked through the woods, Jubilee enjoyed the brief reprieve from the heat that the shadows of the trees gave. Passing a camera mid-way, she looked up and waved, knowing Bishop was probably watching.

The damaged camera was set high on the wall between the virtually unused road beyond and the trees. Muttering beneath her breath, she slung the bag over her shoulder and climbed the wall, groaning as her bruises protested angrily.

"Oh yeah, Bishop, I'll fix the camera! What kind of an idiot are you, Lee?" She asked herself as she finally sat astride the wall and pulled the wires out of the clearly damaged camera, glaring up at the birds that roosted in the nearest tree. "Touch this again and I swear I'll be eating pigeon pie." She threatened as she knuckled down to fix it. It took nearly half an hour to re-set the camera, and when she was done it immediately began swivelling around before it stopped, pointing straight at her face.

"Bish, is it ok? Up and down if it is." The camera moved, and she grinned. "Excellent! See you for dinner."

Halfway back to the mansion, she came to a fork in the path, and smiling impishly she took the one leading further into the woods. It was hot, and the further into the day it got, the hotter it felt. Finally emerging onto the small sandy beach that ringed the lake, she grabbed the bottom of her t-shirt and dragged it over her head, kicking off her sandals and shorts with a happy grin as she walked towards the water.

It was blissfully cold, and she dunked her head, breaking through the surface again with a gasp as she quickly cooled down.

* * *

In the Fantastic Four headquarters in New York, Reed Richards frowned as the TV footage continued to roll.

"Sue, this can't be right…" he shook his head in denial as The Thing lifted a car and threw it through the window of an upmarket jewellery store.

"It can't be anyone else, Reed." Sue looked over his shoulder at the screen, resting her chin on his shoulder. He carefully snaked his rubber-like arms around her, finally resting his hand against her cheek. Sue grimaced finally and turned off the TV. "I can't believe he'd just…turn like this!" She exclaimed, pounding her fist against his chest.

"Guys! GUYS! Did you see what the Thing's been doing?" Johnny skidded into the living room of the apartment, skidding slightly on the polished wooden floor. Catching their serious looks, he stopped and grimaced. "Guess you have, huh. Any idea what set him off? Cos I can tell you now, it wasn't me. Not this time. Haven't said a word to him in about a week. Promise." Johnny declared brightly. Normally Sue would have no problem pinning the latest "Thing Explosion" on her little brother, but this was nothing like Ben's normal rages. He wasn't screaming Johnny's name for one thing. And for another, he seemed to be targeting high class jewellery stores and banks.

"You are off the hook for now, Johnny. This just isn't normal. We've got to find him…reason with him."

XXXxxxXXX

"Reason with him, huh." Johnny panted, extinguishing his flame as he lay on his back. Sue rolled her eyes, and then rolled onto her stomach, getting slowly to her knees.

"Where'd they go?" She asked, her eyes scanning the area. The street showed only the destruction that their battle had caused. And none of their attackers.

"I don't know…a little help please…?" came a frustrated voice from beside them. Knotted around several poles, Reed was looking like a "Mr. Stretch" Doll. It hadn't been Ben that had done that to him. Normally Reed was faster than the large rock-like mutant. But there had been others. One was an Asian woman he knew to be a member of the X-men, code name Surge. She had tapped into an electricity conduit and blasted him, momentarily stunning him before zipping around with super speed, tying him up in knots.

"I think we need to get back to base and regroup." Reed muttered as he massaged his over-taxed limbs back into position.

"Uuuh, Reed, I hate to point this out now, but we're all together. Regrouped as it were." Johnny muttered, sitting on a piece of masonry that Ben had lobbed at Sue. She had managed to deflect it, just. She'd been too busy trying to cope with what Vectress had been throwing at her

"I think we need back-up." Sue declared as they trudged back into the huge apartment they all shared. "And since others were involved…maybe we should give SHIELD a call."

Reed shook his head fiercely. "No. Ben is one of us. I'm not going to set them loose on him. What if-?"

"What if he doesn't come back?"

* * *

Sweeping the dripping hair from her face, Jubilee treaded water for a few moments before turning back to face the beach. She started when she saw someone standing at the waters edge, but smiled when she recognised him and swam closer to the shore.

"Hey Ange, come in! The water's fine!"

Angelo shook his head, but walked into the water until it reached his waist. Just past him, there was a drop to deeper water, and Jubilee moved closer until she was in front of him, squinting as the sun shone in her eyes creating a halo around his body. "What's wrong, Ange? Is everything ok?"

Angelo shook his head, stretching his arms out to crack his fingers. "There is something, chica. Last night, when you were in the Lawyer's office, there was something you found. You took it with you. Where is it now?"

There was something in the tone of his voice that raised the hairs on the back of her head.

"Haven't a clue what you're talking about, Angelo." She shrugged, treading water. "Dude, I'm lucky I can even remember getting home. If I brought something back with me, then it's probably still in my uniform…" A sudden thought hit her and she frowned, unconsciously tensing. "How do you know if I brought something home or not…? Angelo…?"

The grey skinned mutant shrugged and extended a hand. She thought he was helping her out, and she stuck out her own to meet it only to have him slap it aside and clamp down on her head, forcing her beneath the water. Her fist shot upwards, hitting him in the groin, and he let go of her hair only to dive on top of her, forcing her back beneath the surface.

She punched at his side, trying to hurt him enough to break his powerful hold on her head as he held her beneath the water. The compulsion to breathe was becoming overwhelming and black spots had begun to show themselves at the edge of her vision. She had managed to get her head up to gulp a lungful of air several times during their struggle, but the larger, heavier man was now holding her down with ease, his head pulled back to keep away from her flailing fists and the water her struggles churned up. She fired off her paffs wildly, each one weaker than the last, none of them actually landing on him until her struggles slowed and then finally stopped.

He let go of her head and watched as she floated in front of him, a curious look on his face. He wasn't prepared for her to suddenly surge out of the water and send a concentrated barrage of paffs into his face, driving him back towards the beach. Coughing and spluttering, she found the edge of the underwater shelf and splashed after him, water streaming from her hair.

"What the fuck are you doing!" She screeched, firing another barrage of paffs at his retreating back. He landed hard on the sand, and scrabbled back to his feet trying to avoid her paffs as she shot at him again, anger fuelling her powers more than her usual energy reserves. She drove him backwards towards a tree, dodging his arms as they snaked out to try to grab her again. Once more she struck him and he stumbled backwards into the deep shadow of a tree, and as he lay there, he glared up at her, pure malevolence in his eyes.

"Beware the shadows. We are watching. We are waiting. And we will triumph." He hissed, and suddenly the shadows seemed to reach out and drag him backwards. Then he was gone.

Shivering violently, she spun in a staggered circle, staring at the now menacing shadows beneath the trees, her breathing harsh in the sudden silence. Turning on her heel she fled the lake, running through the trees like a mad-woman as an all too familiar growl filled the air.

"Don't bother running, frail! You'll only die tired!"

XXXxxxXXX

Sighing softly, Everett hitched his backpack higher on his shoulder and quickened his pace as he walked up the long drive to the mansion. He'd had a nice time back home with his family, but the pull of the business was stronger and he'd soon found himself itching to get back into the thick of the action. Plus, his parents had tried to enforce a curfew and demanded to know where he was going every single minute of the day.

Halfway up the drive he heard a scream and before his backpack landed on the gravel he was in the bushes headed towards the owner of the scream. In the mansion, Bishop had already hit the intruder alarm and was running through the base towards the elevator, gun in hand as Hank and Kitty bolted out of the room they had been using.

"Bishop?" Scott called out, seeing him barrelling past, guns in hand.

"Creed is in the woods; he's chasing Jubilee."

Crashing through the undergrowth in a headlong dash, Jubilee finally tripped over an unseen tree root and turned the fall into a roll, coming up with both hands blazing. The shock of falling brought her back to her senses and she quickly formed two large paffs in her hands, throwing them at Creed's face as he caught up with his quarry. He ducked them and managed to catch her side with his claws, and with another mind-splitting scream she punched him in the chest with her palms, unleashing her powers simultaneously.

"Die Tired! I'll show you Die Tired!" Everett frowned when he heard the angrily shouted words, and he reached out to the nearest mutant he could find, snagging her powers. As the itchy, tingling feeling of a paff formed in his hand, he emerged into a clearing to find Creed lying on the ground, writhing in agony as his healing factor tried to catch up with the damage she'd caused. The girl herself was standing a few feet away from him, her chest heaving up and down as she caught her breath, and he quickly averted his eyes, realising she was only wearing her underwear.

"Jubilee, what's going on?" He asked quickly, coming to flank her, his hands blazing with a multicoloured hue of paffs.

"If you see Angelo; take him down." She ordered starkly as Creed staggered to his feet, still reeling. "Quick version; some telepath or something is turning our friends against us and Angelo just tried to kill me. We've lost Polaris; Vectress killed her. Creed is turned badder, and so is Mystique. We don't know who else. It's bad. Be ready."

Everett was torn between believing her and scoffing in scorn, but when Creed turned to bellow angrily at them he saw that the hulking monster's eyes were black from corner to corner, and he took a worried step backwards.

"You ok to fight?"

"I'll kill him if he touches me again." Jubilee spat, throwing a bright white paff into the Taken's eyes. He howled again and Everett's eyebrow cocked up. Even with his ability to use others powers better than themselves, he didn't think he could cook up a paff that powerful. Jubilee's eyes blazed as the shadows around them seemed to seethe and she took up a fighting stance. "Oh yeah, and they use the shadows to move around. I think we've got company."

Everett's eyes darted around as the shadows seemed to move and Mystique and two mutants he'd never seen before emerged, all as black-eyed as Creed. "Jubes…Run!"

Grabbing her arm, he dragged her behind him as more mutants poured out of the trees behind them.

When they emerged from the tree line, Everett spotted Cyclops, Bishop, Rogue and Emma already running towards them, and behind them Angel launched upwards from the top step, silver wings beating furiously at the air as he gained height and speed. Bishop was already firing at the mutants that were emerging from the trees and Emma had changed into Diamond form, sparkling dangerously in the sunlight.

Emma felt a red rage descend on her as she watched Creed bat Everett to the side and made a grab for Jubilee's arm, his claws biting deep into her flesh as she brought up her hand and paffed at his face. Unlike earlier though, he was ready for her and he grabbed her other wrist before it got high enough to do any damage, quickly transferring both of her arms into one meaty grip. Behind them, strangers appeared from the deep shadows in the woods, ready to meet the X-Men in battle.

As Everett struggled to his feet and reached out blindly with his powers to 'borrow' someone else's mutation, the little gymnast's eyes blazed with raw energy and she felt a strange haze descend on her as she dug deep within her for a power she had only ever used once before and was usually too afraid to even contemplate using. Her hair crackled with plasma as the power built up within her, and as Creed raised his hand to drag his claws down through the muscle on her uninjured side, the blue-white fire that danced in her eyes flashed outwards, catching him unawares.

He let her go with an agonised cry as the plasma burned down through the layers of flesh in an instant, leaving only exposed bone on his upper chest and neck. He stumbled backwards, dropping her, and she landed easily on her feet, looking around for her next target.

She didn't have long to wait before Logan approached, and it was only the fact that out of the corner of her eye she could see _her_ Logan fighting against two unknown mutants that saved her. Before the claws could come within striking distance, she blasted Mystique, but her triumph was short-lived as she faltered, a sudden weakness driving through her in waves.

Falling to her knees, she closed her eyes as her head seemed to freeze, missing Logan toss his opponents aside so he could clear a path to his pup. He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her upright, holding her to him as he lashed out with his free hand. As the fight grew more manic, he was forced to let her go again, and she staggered away, feeling more power well up inside her, almost begging to be released. Blinking, she stood up straight as her body seemed to control itself, and began focusing blasts of high-powered white plasma at the nearest attackers. Moving to stand at her back, they both began to trade off on each other's opponents; Jubilee using him as a platform to roll and dodge and duck her opponents as she lashed out, an eerie calm descending over her.

Storm's eyes slowly clouded white and she rose up into the air, a sudden wind whipping at her hair and clothes. Clouds began to form in the bright blue sky, and across the battlefield, everyone seemed to stop as a powerful bolt of lightning split a nearby tree.

Jubilee lowered her head and dug deep into her reserves, her lips pinching shut as she concentrated. Taking in a deep breath and ignoring the bruising hail that had begun to fall, she held out her hands, barely controlling the plasma writhing up her arms as her eyes burned a vivid blue. The plasma continued around her body, sheathing it in her powers as she singled out Sabertooth and blasted him, throwing him back twenty feet from Logan, a bloody, smoking mess. Her next victim was Mystique who suffered the same fate, and after a few moments, the Juggernaught wannabe caught a stomach full of paffs and dropped to the ground.

"Now she's pissed…" Bobby muttered, using the distraction to punch his next opponent in the face and iced the man to the spot. A second bolt of lightning hit much closer, and their attackers, seeming to respond to some kind of silent instruction to retreat, made for the trees, melting into the shadows until the only people left were the Mansion inhabitants, all looking shocked and confused.

Spread across the lawn, they all looked around, checking to make sure that everyone was ok; still standing, still breathing. The plasma coating Jubilee flickered away and she looked around anxiously, scrubbing bloody hands through her hair. "Where is he?" She asked frantically as Logan turned to stare at her.

"Jubilee, sit down. Yer bleeding."

"Where is he!"

"Jubilation, sit down! Who are you looking for?" Hank commanded as he approached, and Jubilee shook her head, her eyes searching the lawn..

"Angelo? Is he here?"

Emma and Sean shared a glance and the telepath immediately set about trying to find him with her telepathy. "I can't find him." She stressed finally, and Jubilee shook her head, trying to shake off Hank's worried attentions.

"Don't…he's like Vectress an' Freakshow. He tried…he tried to kill me at the lake. He disappeared into the shadows like they grabbed him. Kept talking about something weird and said beware the shadows an' then he was gone. An' then Sabertooth was right behind me."

"Jubilee, are you sure, lass?" Sean asked, and she whirled around to stare at him, wild-eyed.

"He held my head under the water and wouldn't let me up. His eyes were black from rim to rim, just like Freakshow, an' Vectress an' Sabertooth an' Mystique and all the other fuckers that just tried to kill us!" her nose wrinkled angrily. "You bet your Irish Ass that I'm damned sure and I'm fucking serious!"

She flinched as something settled around her shoulders, and she looked up to find Remy standing beside her, settling his coat around her. "Petite, you standing here in your underwear. P'haps we should go inside, non?" He murmured gently, adjusting the lapels. "An' mebbie get you checked out."

Hank watched her bow her head and her shoulders slumped. "He tried to kill me…" She stressed softly, and Charles stepped around the others to reach her, putting his hand to her temple.

"Show me." He ordered kindly, and after a long minute he drew away, leaving her shaking and upset.

"Scott, we have another to add to the list." He gently brushed her cheek with the backs of his fingers and she finally looked up, her eyes soulful and lost. Suddenly she burst into tears, and Hank gently picked her up, cradling her against him as she wept. "Take care of her, Henry."

* * *

As the sun set, Charles shut the door to his study and locked it before finally settling behind his desk. Resting his face in his hands, he closed his eyes tightly, shutting out the myriad of thoughts and feelings that assaulted him. When his mind was finally silent, he let out a long, tired breath and opened his eyes again rubbing his face tiredly, finally letting his long fingers rest on the smooth skin of his scalp as he rested his elbows on the surface of the desk.

Between his arms lay the list, even longer than it had been that morning, and he let his eyes run down the names, finally resting on the last one that had been added by Scott's hand just before the battle on the lawn. Ben Grim. Picking up his pen, he wrote Angleo's name with a shaking hand. The day had been long and fraught with emotion, and even now, he found blocking the others emotions draining.

Twenty six names so far; gathered after only fifteen hours. How many would come after? _What_ would come after?

A quiet tap on the door an hour later drew him away from his thoughts and he opened the door to find Scott standing there, a worried look on his face and two mugs of coffee in his hands.

"How is she?"

"Beast said that she's in emotional shock. She lost some blood from Creed's claws. Charles, I watched the tapes; she pretty much fried Sabretooth's upper torso away, besides whatever else happened out at the lake. I've never seen her powers work like that before."

Charles gestured for him to come inside, and they settled in front of the desk. "Hank's also set some synthaskin on her injuries from Creed's claws. There shouldn't be any scarring."

"Thank heavens for small mercies." Charles murmured softly, eyes fixed on the surface of the coffee in his mug.

"Angelo nearly killed her, Charles. Right underneath our noses. Whoever it is, _took_ Angelo from right beneath our noses. He was fine this morning, so far as I could see. He had a Danger Room session with myself and Remy; he was acting completely normal."

Charles nodded; it was nothing he didn't already know. "How is Logan?"

"Hovering over her like a sentinel." Scott's lip quirked at one end. "He's worried about her. So am I. This isn't the first time a friend has turned on her…" He trailed off and shrugged. "When she was in LA, the friend she was looking for attempted to sell her to cover her drug habit. It hurt her more than she'll admit."

"She is strong. I have a feeling she will fight whoever is doing this to avenge Angelo…or whatever he has now become."

"I still haven't gotten through to Fury." Scott murmured, finally breaking the long silence that had fallen. "I was thinking…perhaps in a day or two I could set Jubilee to the task. It will keep her mind off everything and give her a chance to recover. Mentally, I mean. The synthaskin should have healed the worst of the cuts in that time."

"Whatever you feel is best, Scott."

XXXxxxXXX

Not too far away from them, Emma and Sean sat in her small study, wrapped in silence. Neither of them felt inclined to speak, but sought each others company anyhow.

"I felt nothing." Emma murmured finally. "No indication – no _inclination_ that he was planning something…"

Sean sighed as the words broke into his thoughts and turned in his chair to stare at her. "Emma…this wasn't your fault."

"Near enough. They are my students, Sean-"

"Not any more, Em."

"The will _always_ be my students!" She snapped angrily. "Don't you ever think otherwise. A bunch of misfit teenagers with no one and nothing to take care of them. They are _mine_. And always will be." Emma sighed and elegantly rose to her feet, smoothing down the white leather cat-suit. In the silence that fell again, she poured herself a glass of brandy and handed another to Sean. "We lost Angelo today. And I felt nothing, Sean. Not one thing to say that he was going to do something. Hell, I'm the one that told him where Jubilee was headed!" Closing her eyes she sank back down onto the chair. "I felt her go to the lake and I told him where to go."

Sean bowed his head, pursing his lips. "Emma, I'll only say this once more 'cos you need to get it into your head. It's not your fault. You didn't attack Jubilee. You didn't turn Angelo's mind to whatever it is that took him from us. The same as you didn't do it to Kevin, or Cara…or Ben Grim. This is bigger than you and it's bigger than us. And you know it. So stop wallowing in guilt and snap out of it. There is no blood on yer hands, lass. Let it go."

"Let it go? It's not as easy as that, Sean." She fell silent again and sipped at her drink, staring at the floor.

"Why you couldn't tell that Jubilee was being attacked?"

"That at least is one answer I can give." Emma huffed. "The girl panicked when Angelo attacked her and her psi shields slammed up. She was so panicked that even if she'd thought of it, she probably wouldn't have been able to call out for help. Her shields only went down when the fight ended. _Then _I could feel her."

"And how did she feel?" Sean asked cautiously, almost afraid of the answer.

"Betrayed."


	10. Tears for the Fallen Part I

"What's she doing?" Jono leant against the door to the garage and shared a concerned glance with Everett.

"She's staring at a car. I've never seen it before; who owns it?"

"Angelo an' Jubes." Jono murmured as the girl in question began to circle around the car, letting her fingertips squeak against the powder-blue paint. "They bought it when they were in LA. Took a road-trip home."

"Oh..." Everett's face took on a pinched expression and he folded his arms in front of his chest, hunching over.

They watched her worriedly. It had been two days since Angelo's defection. Two days since their attack. Two very, very long days. She hadn't said a word since she'd woken up the morning after. Not even to Logan who was keeping an eye on her from a distance, not wanting to intrude on her grief but needing to stay close to reassure himself she was ok. Even Emma seemed worried about her mental health.

Finally taking the initiative, Jono stepped onto the bare concrete and snaked around two half-disassembled bikes. "Hey Jubes, watcha doing?"

"You might want to get out." Her voice was dark, and neither of them liked the dangerous glint in her eyes.

"Eh, I don't think so, Luv." Everett quickly moved to back him up, unsure of what was happening, but even he could feel the nervous tension that suddenly filled the room. "Why don't we go outside an'-"

He broke off as Jubilee's hands and eyes began to blaze with the same dangerous white plasma that had appeared during the fight.

//I'd get out of here if I were you, Ev. I'm gonna do sumfink stupid.// he directed at Everett and without another word he hoisted her over his shoulder and stomped out of the open garage door ignoring the frantic thrashing and ear-shattering screams of pure, unadulterated rage.

She landed in the ornamental fountain with a gasp and floundered for a minute before regaining her senses and her balance. Surging to her feet, she swept the sodden hair from her eyes and was confronted by Jono who was perched on the edge of the fountain with a strange, unreadable look in his eyes.

"An' what would destroying the car do?" He snapped finally. "Blow up the Garage?…Destroy a good car?" He held his hands up questioningly. "Will it bring him back? No. Will it undo the damage he done? No. You aren't the only one he hurt, Jubilee, don't forget that. You are wallowing in your own guilt and pain an' that was ok. But it's time to stop wallowing and-"

"Don't you dare trivialise what he did to me-!" Her eyes blazed again, but this time her anger was directed at Jono.

"I'm not trivialising anything, luv. But you need to get your head out of your ass and start fighting back. You've had two days to sulk. Shit, you even have Emma worried about you! You will be fine! You'll get over this. You are stronger than this you little muppet!"

The sound of bone hitting bone resounded through the small courtyard and Jono raised a hand to his smarting cheek and ran his tongue against a now loose molar. As her hand snaked out to punch him again, he grabbed her wrist, and then the other as it followed its previous path.

"NO!" She struggled against him, not noticing that he'd stepped into the water as she tried to pull away, fear and panic making her eyes wide. Ignoring her struggles, Jono let go of her wrists and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly.

"I know, luv…" He murmured as her struggles began to still and her screams turned into sobs. "He hurt you. We won't let him do that again. I promise, luv. No one will hurt you again. Not on my watch. And not on Everett's, or Frostie's."

"You can't promise that!" Jubilee pulled back and glared at him, anger rising again.

"No, luv, I can't." Jono admitted sadly. "But I can do my bloody best, and that's all we can do right now. Our bloody best. An' we need our bloody best to fight whatever the hell is going on. And that means you an' all."

Putting his mouth close to her ear, he increased his grip and began to rock her back and forth. "Angelo's gone, luv, but we aren't. I know he was like a bruvver to you. He was me best mate. An' he was one of Emma's…you know…We all miss him. But you need to be on top of your game, 'cos if I lose you, then _I'm_ gonna lose it and god help whoever gets between me and me target. You gotta snap out of it, kid."

"I can't-"

"You can!" Jono practically shook her as he gripped her arms as tightly as he dared considering her injuries. "Damnit, Jubilee, if any of us is walking out of this ok, it's gonna be you. Yer like a cat, y'know. You get pushed off a balcony an' you land on your feet."

"Nice analogy, Starsmore." He could practically feel the tension begin to drain out of her and he sighed as she leant against him again.

"Thanks. Been workin' on it all morning." He murmured and felt her chest heave as she sighed again. "Well, are you going to snap out of it or do I have to keep up with my charming English ways, eh?"

"Snap." Jubilee threaded her fingers into the material of his trademark black trench coat and buried her face against his chest, secretly soothed by the thrumming of his heart. "Th-"

"Ben Grim was taken." Jono cut off her thank you gently, not wanting or needing to hear her thanks. "And Sunfire. And a whole shed-load more. We've started tryin' to identify people from the security cameras. There weren't many we could name. Logan seems to think they were civilians."

"We were all civilians once, Starsmore." The tender moment gone, Jubilee drew away and sloshed her way out of the fountain. Standing on the solid, dry ground, she stood perfectly still for a few moments, and Jono watched her worriedly until he realised what she was doing. Slowly, her posture straightened and her breathing steadied. Several stray tears leaked down her cheeks, but she bit at her lip until they stopped. She was quite literally pulling herself together. Finally she was standing tall and proud and her face held a trace of the familiar 'you hurt me I'll break your balls' expression.

"Better, luv?" He asked carefully, and she gave a sharp, decisive nod.

"Better than I was. Are you stepping into the big-brother role now?" A touch of the strength was back in her voice and he judged it was enough to begin with, especially with the sarcasam that tinged her last sentence.

"Me? Nah. I think I'll stick with the friend thing. I don't think anybody'd believe that a refined British Citizen like meself could be related to a Californian Mall Rat like you." He sniffed affectedly and she managed a weak smile as he threaded his arm around her shoulders. "C'mon…Summers wants a word with you."

XXXxxxXXX

"Hang on; whaddya mean 'by any means possible'…?" Jubilee looked at Scott dubiously and he sighed as the phone on his desk began to ring again. Holding up his hand for her to wait, he answered and made a face, picking up his pen and beginning to scribble information into a notebook.

"Hang on a minute – Just get in contact with Fury, Jubilee. Keep calling him, email him…do whatever it takes." He murmured, and made a shooing gesture.

Jubilee left the room feeling slightly spacey. It had been the strangest conversation she'd had with Scott to date. He'd almost been skating around her feelings; afraid to broach the subject, but wanting to know how she was without saying the words. And she hadn't exactly been willing to say how she was _using_ words. She'd talked to Jono- fair enough. She _didn't_ want to talk to anyone else about it. And the phone had kept ringing, and he'd kept answering. All she was really sure of was that he'd definitely said that she had to try to contact Fury and ask if he knew what was going on, and to use any means possible.

Sighing softly, she made her way down towards the games room, gently grazing her fingers against the tender new skin on her side. God bless Hank and his wonder-skin, she thought to herself. If it hadn't been for that, she'd still be tied to a bed in the med-lab – and they would have had to literally do that to make her stay.

"By any means possible…" She murmured, and as she turned a corner she realised that Logan was skulking behind her. "You know I'm not blind; I can see you." She called out and waited for him to catch up.

"You ok?" He asked cautiously, and she nodded.

"Better. Not best, but better."

Logan grunted, clearly unconvinced, and shrugged. "Xavier's asked me to go on a mission fer him…" he cleared his throat gruffly and waited for her reaction.

"Where are you going?" She asked carefully and he sighed.

"England. I'm takin' Chamber with me. Gotta pick up somebody and bring her back here safe and sound. You…Are you going to be ok…while I'm gone…I'm not sayin' you won't be, just…y'know…"

Jubilee hung her head and sighed. "I wigged out, Logan. I'll admit that…it's not every day that someone that's like a brother to you tries to wipe the planet with your ass. But I'm ok now. I talked…I talked to Jono – well, he talked to me. Managed to knock some sense in to me. I still have you guys…and we'll get him back."

"Jubes-"

"**We'll get him back**!" Jubilee's eyes flashed angrily as she grated out the words, and Logan took a step back, holding his hands up defensively.

"Ok, kid. We'll get him back. We'll get 'em all back if we can…" He blinked as her eyes continued to blaze and hesitantly reached out to touch her arm. "Jubes…you gotta talk to Hank about what's happening…"

Her eyebrows knitted together and she shook her head. "About what?"

"Yer eyes…an' what happened on the lawn…"

Shaking her head again, Jubilee let him tug her down the hall to the nearest hanging mirror, and her jaw dropped open. "…what the…"

"Exactly. Looks like yer powers 've made a bit of a jump." He waited for her to talk again, but she ignored him and stepped closer to the mirror, watching the plasma burn inside in her eye sockets. "And I know that One-Eye noticed it the other day. He watched the security footage of the attack."

"This is so freaky weird." She grumbled, reaching up to brush against where her eyeballs should have been. What she felt instead was a roiling sea of her powers. Steeling herself, she concentrated, and the plasma went away. After a few seconds she tried to get it back and sucked in a breath as they burst into life once more. Getting more familiar with the feeling, she concentrated it on her hand and started as it burst into a more condensed form of her paffs, the power blazing from her hands. "Uh…I think this happened in the Garage. I wanted to fry the convertible. Jono stopped me…frickin' weird…"

Logan blew out a long breath and nodded. "You can say that again. Listen, I gotta get moving in a couple of minutes…are you sure you are gonna be ok – not just with the Angelo thing…the…the…" he floundered for a minute and finally reached out and gripped her still burning hands. The plasma didn't burn him and though he was surprised, he didn't let it show on his face. "The eye thing…an' the hand thing…an every thing. Just say the word, Jubes, an' I'll tell Xavier he can stuff the mission up his-"

"Go, Logan." Jubilee insisted gently, secretly glad that he was taking the time to make sure she was ok. "I'll be fine. I promise."

She smiled, feeling more like herself than she had in days and watched him walk off towards the elevator. Looking down at her hand, she flexed her fingers and ruefully shook her head as the plasma winked off. "This is so weird." She murmured softly, resolving to spend some time in the Danger Room – without observation – so she could know what she could and could not do now. Hank could wait.

Changing direction, she headed up to her room, mounting the stairs two at a time. It had felt like her mind had shut down after the fight. All she could do was think of what had happened to Angelo and that he'd hurt her. Now she was thinking about _why_.

When had he changed – she didn't know…nobody knew.

Who had changed him – no one knew.

What the hell had he been talking about at the lake? Had she taken something from the office? Shaking her head as she burst into her room and looked around, her eyes finally sharp and concentrated. Glancing around she saw the normal detritus and objects strewn around, and at the back of her mind she vowed to clean up later. Dismissing the outer room, she went to the bathroom and dragged out the laundry hamper, guessing that someone had dumped her uniform inside. After all that had happened no one had thought of laundry for a while.

The contents landed on the carpet and she quickly began to sort through it, tossing socks and tops over her shoulder as she searched. Finally she located her uniform and sat back, holding up the bloody mess. "I blew his throat out." She reminded herself, a touch of pride entering her voice. "I hurt him." She nodded grudgingly, giving herself a mental pat on the back and shook the material, wondering if anything would fall out.

A small slip of paper fluttered to the carpet.

XXXxxxXXX

"Uh…Professor….?" Jubilee knocked gently on Charles's door and poked her head inside, cocking an eyebrow in a silent request to come in.

He nodded and pointed to a chair, nodding as he continued to listen to the person on the other end of the phone. "Heather, they are on their way. I promise you. Now, get some sleep and call me if you see anything else." He hung up quickly and sighed. "She has the memories of nearly four generations of her family, and yet she still does not know when to stop talking." He smiled tiredly at her. "What can I do for you, Jubilee? I am glad to see you…more yourself."

Jubilee smiled wanly and shrugged. "You saw my memories; you know Angelo was looking for something. He said I brought something home with me from Patras's office."

Charles nodded, suddenly looking more alert as the smile faded. "I thought you hadn't…you found it, didn't you?"

Jubilee nodded. "I don't know how it got there, but this was in my uniform. Some of it's unreadable - I guess it got a bit damaged in the fight." She handed over the paper and sat back, watching him read.

"This is Spillios's handwriting…" He murmured finally, placing the note on the table in front of him. "Did you read it?"

Jubilee nodded, keeping silent.

"He speaks of an old man…" Charles mused softly, clearly not talking to her, "one that asked him to pass on..." He frowned and scraped at the paper with a fingernail.

"Sorry...Sabretooth blood. I'm guessing it says 'a message'."

"Beware the Shadow. Not something we don't know."

"But something we didn't know at the time." Jubilee murmured. "And he talks of Gods and Shadows, light and dark…a string of words that makes no sense."

Charles smiled slightly and shrugged. "It is part of the puzzle, Jubilee. One that is getting more difficult and complex with every turn. Thank you for bringing this to me."

Sensing the unsaid dismissal, she got back to her feet and after a seconds thought, moved around the desk until she was standing beside him. "We'll get there, Professor. Just have faith." She threaded her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, pressing her head against his neck. "I promise."

After a few seconds, he reached up and tightly gripped the arm twined around the front of his neck. "It should be me saying that to you." He sighed, and she drew back giving him a glimpse of a familiar vibrant smile.

"Hey, you looked like you needed it." She kissed his temple and left him to his thoughts.

XXXxxxXXX

Days later, Jubilee thumped her head against the keyboard in frustration. ACCESS DENIED was flashing on the screen. Fumbling for her coffee she groaned when she realised it was cold. She felt like she was running on empty. She was vaguely aware that Logan and Jono had returned with some woman not much older than Monet. She, Scott, Charles and Magneto had practically locked themselves into Charles's study, warning everyone to stay away.

Logan had disappeared off on yet another mission, but before he'd left she'd badgered him for contact numbers for Fury. He'd given her a funny look but rattled off a string of numbers before climbing into the mini-jet next to Storm.

It was either early in the morning, or late at night and she definitely needed more caffeine to differentiate between the two. The phone numbers hadn't worked. Three wouldn't connect, and the fourth just kept ringing out with no answering machine. She tried it periodically, along with the other numbers Scott had given her, but there was no joy, not even leaving messages with the SHIELD land base. After getting annoyed with getting nowhere, she ended up trying to hack into the SHIELD database to get to his own computer terminal, judging that if she left a note somewhere he could see it he'd get back to her. While getting into the database was easy, locating his unit and getting into it was working out to be impossible.

Hiding a yawn behind her hand, she trudged into the kitchen, barely avoiding a collision with Magneto as he made his way to the cupboards next to the door.

"Hey." She murmured and deftly ducked around him, making for the sink. "So, you finally emerged…"

"We did." He murmured tiredly and gripped her by the shoulders, turning her towards the table. "Heather Dorian, this is Jubilation Lee. Jubilation, this is the granddaughter of one of Charles's oldest and dearest friends."

Jubilee hadn't realised there was someone else in the room, but she put down the cup and went to shake her hand, surprised when she saw the woman was wearing a pair of purple leather gloves, which went well with the purple streaks in her jet black hair.

"Jubilee." Heather stood up, barely even Jubilee's height and she cupped Jubilee's cheek gently before sliding off one of the gloves and pressing her skin against Jubilee's. After a moment she blinked and smiled, sitting back down. "Pleased to meet you! Keep on truckin'!"

Jubilee opened her mouth, unsure of how to answer that, and promptly closed it again as Magneto placed a large mug of fresh, and more importantly hot coffee into her hands.

Surprising himself, he steered her towards a chair and gently pressed on her shoulders to make her sit. "You look tired." He murmured defensively at the strange look she threw at him, and she sighed as Heather reached for a cookie, her startlingly violet eyes twinkling.

"Long day…night." Jubilee amended, glancing at the clock. "And no joy. It's like the guy fell off the planet or something. I'm getting so sick of this…"

Heather smiled secretively and lounged back in the chair, her eyes twinkling even more. As she moved, the long beige coat she wore fell open to reveal a tie-dye blouse and a pearl choker necklace.

"Well, JJ, you might just have to find a different way, then won't you. A girl like you doesn't walk the normal paths anyhow." The cryptic statement made Jubilee choke on her coffee, and Magneto stared at her with a strange look in his eye.

"Heather…" He murmured warningly and the secretive smile grew. "What did you see?"

"Moi?" Heather gestured towards herself dismissively. "I saw nothing, old man."

"I take it you two are friends too?" Jubilee asked, trying to get to the bottom of what was happening. "What? What's going on?"

Eric sighed and relaxed back into his chair. "Heather, amongst other things, is a touch clairvoyant. And when her grandmother died, she passed on every single memory she's ever had. Heather was only fourteen when it happened. I believe that when she touched you, she saw something. Heather?"

"I saw something. But it's not for me to tell, boy. She's got it in her head already. Don't you, kiddo." She grinned, suddenly looking older than she was.

"They'd kill me." Jubilee stated flatly, draining half the mug in one go. "As in; little pieces of me, scattered over the lawn like confetti. Burned confetti…"

"What did Scott tell you?"

"By any means…hey! How did you know that?"

Heather sighed, shaking her head. "He was talking to me on the phone, when he was talking to you. What are you thinking?"

Jubilee flicked a glance at Magneto, and the white haired mutant shrugged, blowing on his drink before taking a sip. "Going to the source…" She murmured softly, and was rewarded by Magneto inhaling a mouthful of coffee.

"Going to – you mean infiltrating the most heavily guarded _flying_ Heli-Carrier?!" He exclaimed in a hiss once he had stopped coughing. Closing her eyes, Jubilee nodded slowly and Eric quickly shook his head.

"You are right. They would kill you. After the SHIELD soldiers had finished with you. And just how were you thinking of persuading Cyclops and Xavier of allowing you to do that?" he asked incredulously.

"Who ever said I was going to ask them." Jubilee shot back. "It's easier to ask forgiveness than to beg permission. I think I have it all worked out…or at least, I would if you would promise not to tell Charles."

"You wish me to lie to my host?" Eric asked, his surprise dying away only to be replaced by curiosity.

"Not lie. Just not tell. I'm a teenager, Mags, I know the difference." She smiled smugly. "Well? Would you tell him?"

Eric considered it for a moment before holding out his hand across the table to her. "I propose a wager, child. If you do attempt it, I will neglect to mention it until asked directly. On one condition; If you get caught or shot, you never, _ever _call me 'Mags' again. It is Magneto, or Mr. Lenscher. Or Eric if you ever manage to save my life."

Heather began to chuckle as Jubilee suddenly looked sly and nodded, reaching out to take his hand. "And if I succeed, and get in touch with Fury without getting shot into itty bitty bits…you stop calling me child or Jubilation."

"Done." They shook firmly and Eric smiled faintly as Jubilee got to her feet.

"Get some sleep before you go, Jubilee. You'll have a busy day ahead of you." Heather murmured, the cryptic tone entering her voice again.

"Doing what?" Jubilee asked, just as cryptic and Heather shrugged.

"You already know. Take the evening train; it won't be as crowded."

XXXxxxXXX

Jubilee smirked as she ducked through the metal detector, giving the guard a wink as she shouldered her back-pack higher on her shoulder. He looked at her strangely, but she paid no attention to him; she knew she looked weird. She was wearing a windcheater and underneath that was an all-in-one grey jumpsuit that just happened to be a uniform stolen from Hank's prototype lab, chosen specifically for its colour. When the guard frowned at the bag, she shrugged and continued on out of his sight; it didn't beep, therefore it wasn't a threat. At least, that's what he thought.

Inside the bag was the smallest glider she could find in Hank's store of items needed for a particular mission and never needed or thought of again. Likewise with the tiny oxygen pack and mask. Humming softly, she slipped into the elevator and rode along with the tourists travelling up as far as the observation deck on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building. It was quite late in the evening, and the majority of the crowds had vanished. Resisting the urge to yawn, she leant against the stone and looked out over the city, smiling faintly when she saw the Fantastic Four's jet land on the roof of the Baxter Building. At least they were still operating, even if Ben had gone nuts.

Checking her watch, she consulted the small slip of paper clutched in her hand and decided it was time to start moving. Buoyed by Heather's belief that what she was doing would work, she'd spent half the night tiptoeing through the SHIELD databases, working out schedules and double-checking facts.

Moving to a quiet corner of the viewing platform, she opened the bag and working within its confines, attached the O2 bottles to the back of the glider frame and arranged things so she could move quickly when ready. Finally, when the security guard moved away, she stripped the material away and shrugged out of the windcheater. In one fluid motion, she swung the machine onto her back, pulled the mask over her nose and mouth and ran for the railings. Up and over the deadly spikes in a second, she extended the gliders wings and laughed as she swooped down through the air, hearing the shrieks of terror from the tourists she'd just left behind.

With the heat of the day, the thermals still rising from the city streets sent her upwards and she revelled in the feeling of flight, resisting the urge to scream with excitement.

After twenty minutes aimlessly circling the air above the high-rises, she spotted her target and began to angle towards the waddling bulk of the SHIELD Troop Transport as it lumbered into the air, headed towards the main SHIELD Heli-Carrier that Fury should be commanding.

She knew she was small enough to evade the radar, but the difficult thing would be landing on the roof without making noise or being seen on her approach. It took a few seconds for her to work out what she had to do before the transport picked up speed, and she began to circle, gaining height as a thermal sent her upwards. Angling herself, she moved behind it and swooped down, trying to match its speed and height and after a few heart-stopping minutes, she landed as lightly as she could on the roof, sliding back until she was clinging to the back of it. Reluctantly, she hit the button to release the glider wings and cringed as they fell away, disappearing into the clouds.

It felt like an eternity before she felt the change as the Transport slowed and banked, moving towards the Heli-Carrier's open hanger doors. Jubilee waited until it had gone underneath the viewing platforms and quickly hauled herself back onto the roof, pressing herself flat and hoping to god that the schematics she'd found were right and there was only one level in the hanger. When nobody shouted out or started peppering her with bullets, she relaxed her hold and stayed where she was as the hanger erupted in noise with people and supplies being unloaded from the vessel.

The transport had stopped moving at least twenty minutes before Jubilee risked lifting her head. All sounds in the hanger bay had disappeared, and raising herself up a fraction of an inch she looked around from the top of the large transport vehicle. The large hanger was finally completely deserted.

Slipping down the side, she landed lightly on her feet and ran to the nearest wall, hunkering down behind a large container. The grey suit she had purloined from Hank's prototype lab helped her blend against the stark gunmetal grey colour of the top of the transport ship, but it would only serve to draw attention to her movements in the lighter colour scheme of the SHIELD Heli-Carrier. Ducking into an empty bay, she stripped down to her underwear before quickly clambering back into the uniform, putting on the clothes she'd been wearing underneath over the suit. Now dressed in black leggings and a skin-tight dark green jacket over a t-shirt, she had a slight military edge to her appearance, which she hoped against hope would give her a tactical edge as she made her way through the ship.

She'd felt the unnerving tingle of a dampening field as they had entered the docking bay, signalling the presence of an Inhibitor Generator. A modified version of the Genosian Inhibitor Collar that stopped all mutant powers, it encompassed the entire ship, and without her powers, she began to feel particularly vulnerable.

'Never doing that again' she assured herself quietly, trying to work the cramp out of her fingers. Four hours clinging to the back of the troop transport as it flew through the air had frazzled her nerves and stiffened her muscles. Keeping her eyes and ears peeled, she opened the door nearest to her and walked out into the hallway as if she had every right to be there.

Two hours later, she was hopelessly lost and wondering what to do next. She hadn't been challenged by any of the soldiers that passed, but she realised that if her luck didn't change she'd have to ask someone directions and that would _definitely_ get her noticed.

"Hey!, Chica! What are you doing here?" A familiar voice called out from behind her, and she froze.

"Uh…" Plastering a friendly smile on her face, she turned and found herself face to face with Mitchell Diablo. "Just taking a walk. How have you been?"

Diablo cocked his head to the side and a queer smile flitted across his lips. "I'm fine, Chica. How come you have no escort? It's SOP for a civilian to have an escort when they come aboard…"

Jubilee didn't miss his hand drift down to the sidearm strapped to his thigh, and she put on an award-winning smile. "I'm not a civilian, now am I? Anyhow, Dum Dum said I could."

The red irises contracted, giving her the only warning she needed as his hand darted towards his gun. She lashed out with her foot, kicking it from his grip and followed up with a well aimed spinning kick to his head. As he dropped like a stone, she flipped over his head, landing lightly a foot away from the gun. After a few seconds she threw the gun down the hall, keeping the clip in her hand. Before it even landed she was running and she sped around the corner out of his line of sight. A few steps after that an alarm began to blare and she darted into the nearest room, locking the door behind her.

Looking around calmly, she found an access hatch to the ventilation ducts and quickly levered it out, slipping inside and pulling it shut. Knowing better than to hang around, she quickly and silently made her way down the vent and around a corner a split second before the door exploded inwards and the room was filled with soldiers.

XXXxxxXXX

An hour later, she was still in the ducts, watching through the small vents as soldiers searched each and every inch of the Heli-Carrier. Gritting her teeth, she began move as quietly as she could; freezing in place when she realised that Diablo was standing directly below her.

"I don't know. It was definitely the child we rescued from the Bikers." He snapped into an earpiece/radio combo. "No! I don't know why the bio-scanners didn't pick…she's invisible to them?" His eyes narrowed in annoyance at this little fact and he pressed his finger to his ear as he glanced around, growing angrier. "With all due respect, Colonel, you could have mentioned that an hour ago…Si, we'll continue to search. This deck is nearly done anyhow. Si, room by room!" He snapped angrily, glaring around him as his men waited for further instructions.

Smirking, Jubilee waited for him to move on before sliding onwards. She knew she was now on the command deck, and guessed that Nick's quarters couldn't be too far away. Deciding to risk slipping out of the ventilation ducts, she found an empty corridor and quietly removed the cover to the shaft, clambering out and dropping to the floor. Landing in a crouch, she scanned the area and slipped noiselessly down the grating lined floor.

She didn't have much to go by, but not too far along, she turned a corner and realised that two guards were standing outside an door with a nameplate. Narrowing her eyes, she sighed and went back the way she had come, finding it a great deal harder to get back into the vent than she had getting out.

Finally, with much jumping and wiggling, she managed to get back in and shimmied down along, counting rooms until she came to a junction and took the right turn, holding her breath as she squeezed through an almost impossibly small connection. Gritting her teeth, she stopped in front of the grate inside the room she'd spotted the soldiers outside and settled down to watch. The room was empty of people, but a desk sat in clear view of her hiding place and squinting slightly she realized that a uniform jacket was slung across the back of the chair. It had a Colonel's insignia, and Jubilee could just about make out the name Fury on the small brass badge.

"Bingo." She whispered and after double checking to make sure that the coast was clear, she left the vents hopefully for the last time. She barely had time to settle herself in the chair before the door opened.

XXXxxxXXX

Nicholas Fury was not having a good day. First, his second in command Dum Dum Duggan got himself thrown into jail in New York for bar brawling, and then Diablo had reported an intruder in the base. The fact he said that it was Logan's kid did not bode well. If any of Xavier's people wanted to contact him, they had the ways and means. There was no reason for her to be crawling around his base. Civilians across the planet were going missing and behaving oddly. Attacking friends and enemies alike; targeting whatever they felt like in an effort to do god only knows what. He knew they were searching for something, but what they were looking for he didn't know. And if Lee was one of them…

Wrenching open the door to his office he took two steps inside before he realised that someone was sitting at his desk with their feet up on the polished steel.

Jubilee had to give him credit; his response was pretty much instantaneous, and she had to move quickly to avoid being hit by the bullet that embedded itself in the back of the chair she'd just been sitting in.

"Fury!" She shouted out as he targeted her again, and she took refuge behind a filing cabinet, poking her head out to glare at him. "I'm not here to-"

Another bullet embedded itself where her head had been seconds before and she pulled back with a yelp. "Seriously, man, what's got your panties in a twist? Nobody ever been in your office before?!" Her eyes widened when a bullet punched through the metal of the filing cabinet and she hunkered down, suddenly realising that what she'd done was a really, really bad idea. "I come in peace, man! Shit if you'd check your damned messages like a normal human being-"

Another volley of shots had her moving again, and she reached out and grabbed a large potted plant behind her, throwing it in his face as she darted for the door. Ducking out into the corridor, she began to run, putting as much distance as she could between herself and Fury.

Over the intercom she heard his voice order her to be stopped, and she skidded around a corner barrelling straight into the last person on earth she'd expected to find on the SHIELD Heli-Carrier.

When Fury finally caught up with them, a group of soldiers were gathered in a circle, watching the fight. Breaking through the crowd, he found Vectress slamming Jubilee's head against the deck as Jubilee tried to dig her thumbs into the other woman's eyes. Gritting his teeth, he opened the nearest weapons locker and removed a dart gun, adjusting the dosage and firing it straight into Jubilee's neck. It only took a few moments for the sedative to work, and when she finally collapsed, he pulled Vectress from her and grabbed Jubilee by the collar of her jacket and dragged her limp form onto her knees.

"What the hell was all that about?" He asked the red-headed mutant as she held her head tightly.

"I have no idea. Ask the little brat." She spat, touching her finger against a split in her lip. Fury looked down at the now unconscious Jubilee and shook his head.

"I'll start questioning her in an hour. She should be awake by then."

Vectress nodded and watched as Fury dragged Jubilee down the hallway, her eyes darkening.

XXXxxxXXX

Fury sat on a chair beside the bunk, watching as the kid's body fought against the sedative, making her twitch and fidget in her sleep. He'd only given her a fraction of the normal dose, judging that with her size and the fact he'd need her lucid and capable of answering questions soon, he didn't need her or whatever the hell had taken her over knocked out for long.

He frowned as she whispered, "Shadow Man…" and groaned, turning over on the narrow bunk. Her eyes flickered open, and she groaned again as Fury's face filled her field of vision.

"Jesus, Nick, what the hell was in that dart? My head's pounding worse than Remy's after an all night bender." Her eyes were still slightly glazed and he realised that she was still under the influence of the drug.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He growled angrily, wrapping his fingers around her neck, easily pinning her in place against the bare mattress.

"'Cos you couldn't be bothered to return any of our attempts to contact you."

She winced as he gripped her chin tightly and twisted her head back and forth, staring into her eyes. "If you are looking for black irises and black everything else, you can go look somewhere else." Jubilee snapped, jerking her chin away from his grip. His surprised look gave her all the information she needed, and she slowly began to relax.

"Yeah, we've been experiencing a little problem with people's eyes going black and them then going completely psycho. I take it you've been having that problem too?"

Fury nodded slowly and eased back in his chair, releasing his grip on her throat. "We've been seeing some strange goings on in the civilian population…civilian mutant population." He confirmed warily and Jubilee nodded. "When I saw you in my office I thought you were one of 'em."

"Yeah, I kind of guessed that. We were attacked about six days ago by a group that contained affiliated mutants and civilian mutants. It was a close call, to tell the truth. We've been trying to get in contact with you since before it, but Cyclops asked me to take over and step up the contact attempts. Even Logan's numbers didn't work. Since we're losing friends like they're going out of fashion, I thought this might have been my best bet. Considering it's been weeks now…well, I thought it was worth the risk. If you have any information on this, Nick, we need it; and we need it fast."

Fury watched her silently and she yawned uncontrollably, trying to hide it behind her fist. After a few seconds, a slow, grudging smile crossed his face and he sat back fully, finally confident that she wasn't under someone else's influence.

"Will you please call either Charles or Scott?" Her eyes were suddenly sharp as the drug wore off fully and she sat up properly.

"It's that bad?" Fury sounded surprised and Jubilee nodded.

"When a team mate that's been closer than a brother turns on you and tries to kill you; it's bad. When you've got Eric Lensher living under your roof because Mystique and Sabertooth turned on him and killed their _own_ team mate; that's really bad. When team mates start turning up dead…that's really, really _bad_. Call them. Please."

"If it's hitting your people, then I'll go to them. I don't know how your messages weren't getting through…if someone's monitoring our phone lines; which they shouldn't be able to do, then I think I'd better order a communications black-out."

Jubilee gave a small smile and swung her legs over the edge of the bunk. "Just one last thing, kid…why'd you attack Vectress?"

Jubilee blinked and her eyes widened as she sucked in a breath. "She's one of 'em, Nick! She killed Polaris! She tried to kill me and Northstar…she's definitely one of them!"

Nick spat a curse and grabbed her by the wrist, dragging her off the bed and through the halls until they reached the command centre. Diablo jumped out of the command chair, giving both Fury and Jubilee a strange look and watched as Fury pressed a button and activated a bio-scanner. "Diablo! Room by room search for Cara Shenke. If she fights, fight back. If you have to shoot the bitch, then shoot her! She's a plant; probably been working for the Shadow Man since she stepped foot on the carrier."

Diablo looked shocked, but began barking orders into his radio, commanding the men that had previously been searching for Jubilee to start to look for Vectress.

"Ain't you gonna verify what I'm saying with Charles?" Jubilee sounded surprised and when Fury shook his head, she frowned. "How come?"

"I trust you about as much as I trust Wolverine…and that's about as far as I can throw him…yer a lot lighter than him, kid." She smiled at his obvious attempt at a joke and rubbed at the back of her neck where she could still feel where the dart had entered.

"Well, you didn't trust me an hour ago." She grumbled, and Nick sighed, taking a data pad from a soldier that approached nervously.

"An hour ago you'd managed to become the first person to successfully infiltrate our main Heli-Carrier." He shot back, flicking her a dirty glance as he read the report.

"And an hour ago I told you that I came in peace." She reminded him. "And you still shot at me and ended up drugging me…does that count as getting shot?"

He paused in the middle of signing off on the report and frowned.

"Why?"

"Because I have a bet on with Magneto…if I managed to get on board without getting shot, then I'd win…" She pursed her lips and shook her head. "Damn…you shot me with a dart…" she folded her arms across her chest and she descended into a sulk and Fury raised his eyes to heaven, sighing heavily.


	11. Tears for the Fallen Part II

"I am most disappointed in you, Jubilation."

Jubilee cringed on the rug in front of Charles's desk, trying to look contrite as he glared at her, obviously furious.

"Punish her later." Fury muttered, taking a seat beside Heather. "We've got more important things to talk about."

"You know what we are dealing with?" Scott looked hopeful and Fury nodded slowly.

"I know some; we managed to keep one of 'em for a while in a holding tank about a month ago in Sydney. Up until a group of 'em stormed the facility and helped him escape. We lost twenty-three men."

Remy winced at the number as Jubilee took the only seat left in the room; his knee. Wrapping his arms around her, he rested his head against her arm and sighed. "Well, what are we dealing with?" He murmured.

"We don't know. Someone or something calling itself the Shadow Man seems to be able to infiltrate mutant's minds and take over their bodies. Make 'em do things they wouldn't normally do."

"Like kill people." Jubilee muttered, and Fury nodded.

"Like kill people. We've only seen civilians so far…but Lee here tells me that they've branched out."

"Forty nine that we've counted so far." Charles sighed, sliding a list towards him.

Fury took it and read it silently, shaking his head as he recognised some of the names. "Lee told me about Vectress; she's been on my Heli the past few weeks or so, on and off. From what I can guess from talking with Lee, she's been sneaking off to do her tasks without being seen by us."

"So, do you have any other information about this Shadow guy?" Jubilee pressed and Fury sighed.

"Not much. He's gearing up towards something; that much we know. I've got people searching for anything on him…they haven't turned up anything yet."

Heather sighed and shrugged. "I don't think that anyone that knows about him will be talking."

"What do you guys know?" Fury watched Charles glance down at the paper on his desk before he answered.

"He or it seems to infiltrate when people are asleep, through their dreams. And whatever it is, can pick when he wishes to take them over. Many of our people have been complaining of bad dreams, much of them the same thing. Someone trying to coerce them into following him; telling them they will be taken care of."

"Logan says it wears you down." Scott added. "He has been getting the dreams for the past couple of weeks now. They stopped just after the attack."

Jubilee shuddered at the thoughts of her mind being infiltrated, and felt Remy's grip on her increase. "I don't know if any of you have noticed it, but it's like they're only getting to grips with their powers when we fight them. Mystique was good enough, but in all honesty, Vic should have killed me five times over when he was chasing me through the trees. It's like they're having to learn how to do it all over again. Without a manual. Even Angelo wasn't exactly a hundred percent when we were fighting. He got the better of me because he was bigger and stronger and I was in the water but he definitely wasn't manipulating his skin with as much skill as normal."

"So, he may not take over their minds completely…perhaps he just nudges them to the side?" Charles sounded hopeful, and Jean found herself sending up a silent prayer that he was right.

"So we might be able to get them back?" The hope in Jubilee's voice struck at Charles like a blow and they shared a long look as she silently urged him to say yes. Finally, he blinked and nodded slowly, even though he seriously doubted they could do anything of the kind.

"We might be able to get them back, Jubilation." He murmured kindly and she slipped off of Remy's knee to stare at him.

"Say it like you mean it." She snapped and spun on her heel, making for the door.

"Jubilee; we can only hope." He called out after her, and everyone watched her shoulders droop.

"I'm tired and I need a shower. Will you wait until later to punish me? Oh, and Mr. Lensher; you won our bet."

Heather glared at Magneto when the door slammed closed. "You had to make that bet with her; didn't you." She grumbled.

Eric blew out a long breath and shifted uncomfortably beneath the confused looks he was getting from the others. Fury was staring studiously at the floor and he cleared his throat softly, murmuring; "You wanna tell 'em or should I?"

"You knew!" Scott snapped angrily, and Eric shot a look at Fury.

"I may have known she was going to try, but _I_ was _not_ the one that shot her!"

An uneasy silence fell in the room and Hank wearily got to his feet. "I am really beginning to tire of that child's inability to admit when she is injured." He growled furiously as he walked towards the door.

"I only hit her with a tranq dart." Nick protested. "And it was a smaller dosage than I'd usually use!"

The expression on Charles's face would have sent a weaker man running for the hills, but Fury was made of sterner stuff. "She disarmed one of my best men, kicked him in the head and disappeared. I didn't get any of your messages and she managed to get onto one of the most heavily guarded military bases on the planet. I thought she was one of _them!_"

* * *

"Jubilation!" Hank threw open the door to her rooms, slamming it shut behind him. "Jubilation!"

"Keep your hair on!" Jubilee snapped from inside the bedroom. Hank's eyes narrowed and he quickly covered the distance between the two doors, wrenching open the door.

"I wish to speak with you, Jubilation." He growled, and Jubilee flinched, hearing the iciness in his voice.

"I'm fine, Hank. I didn't get hurt on the Heli-Carrier. Nobody hurt me. I took down one of the men and spent the rest of the time in the vents. Yeah, Nick hit me with a tranq dart, but I was out for less than thirty minutes." She snapped at him.

Hank folded his arms in front of his massive chest and Jubilee realised she could see a glint of sharp teeth as his lips drew back into a snarl.

"Jubilation; up until you arrived back at the mansion after your little trip with Angelo, I viewed you as a friend. I thought I could trust you to come to me with any problem. Any ailment; any need. And yet, all you have done since then is push me away. You claim that everything is ok between you and Logan, and yet you would not confide in him either. You went alone and unarmed into the lion's den…if he had shot you, would you have told us? Or would you have wandered around the mansion until you bled to death before asking for help? You are not the person I have come to know anymore, Miss Lee. A stranger stands in front of me…and it is one that I do not think I would care to get close to."

Jubilee's eyebrows crept towards her hairline, and she sat down on the mattress with a thump.

"Over-dramatic much?" She muttered, shaking her head. "I…Damnit, Hank, I gotta do…I…you know something; this is me, ok?" She bounced back to her feet, suddenly angry. "This is me as I am. This is me on the inside, and this is me on the outside. And if you don't like it, then it's your own tough luck. I'm not a thirteen year old kid that needs to be coddled any more, _Doctor_ McCoy. I know I'm still young, but seriously, in the life we lead, I'm way ahead of half the bozos out there. I'm seventeen years old, Hank. I've been shot a couple of times. I've been lazered and tazered. I've been thrown from buildings, through walls, through windows…I've been dangled and hit like a piñata. I know what Adamantium feels like when it's dragged through my skin. I know what it's like to have been in a coma and I know what it's like to be tortured. I've half drowned, I've been suffocated, I've been buried under buildings and if you think that getting head-butted or hit by a fricking tranquilliser dart is going to send me running to bug you and disrupt your work to kiss my boo boo's then you've got another thing coming!"

"Kiss your-!" Hank's jaw clenched and he shook his head. "Jubilation….Gah!" He let out a bellow of anger and half-threw himself into a chair. "Tell me this is not what it's all about? Tell me!" he braced his fists on his knees, glaring at her. "Do you know what my first and _foremost_ task here is?"

"Genetic research." Jubilee shot back.

"I am a doctor of medicine first, Jubilee. Not Genetics, not Physics and not anything else. I was employed here in the beginning, day one as a Medical Doctor, Jubilee. Yes, Charles gave me a place and time for other work, but I am here to kiss your 'boo boo's' first and discover the delights of molecular genetics second. The rest is my hobby. And that is what it is; a hobby. You are more important than a strand of DNA, Jubilee. Your _life_ is more important than some experiment. And if I found out that because you thought my working on some experiment was more important than tending to your injuries…I would be upset – I am upset! Greatly upset. How long have you felt this way? Do the others?

Jubilee blinked stubbornly at him and turned towards the window. "I never wanted to bother you, Hank. I knew…when I got here I knew I was just a pain in the ass. You all had important work to do…savin' the world and all."

"The world contains you, Jubilee. And if I cannot save or help you, then what on earth am I working for?" he stared at her seriously. "Jubilee, I am not going to say this again as I hope that I will finally get my point across this time; You are just as important to all of us as Charles or Jean. Or Remy or Scott. Your health, mental and physical means more to us than some fight. If you are injured, you come to me. If you are hurting in any way, you can come to me. Your shoulders, my dear, are too small to bear the weight of the world on your own. Why should we leave you to carry your burdens on your own? You are part of this team; a valued member. And one that is going to be carried down to the med-lab over my shoulder if needs be to get a proper post-mission physical. The same as I would for every other member of this team…of my family." He added gruffly, getting to his feet and holding out his hand. "No arguments, Jubilee."

There was a long silence as Jubilee turned and stared out of the window, her fingers resting on the row of stone balls that lined the windowsill. "Hank…"

He let his hand drop and waited for her argument against being examined. "Hank, I…Something weird happened when we were attacked. It's like my powers expanded or something." She sighed heavily and picked up the forgotten ball from the lawyer's office, rolling it around between her hands as she turned to face him again.

"Were you going to tell me?" He asked cautiously, and Jubilee nodded, her cheeks beginning to redden.

"Just as soon as I had worked them out myself." She admitted sheepishly. "…I was going to tell you! Honest!"

Hank rolled his eyes and took her by the hand, gently guiding her out of the room. "We will discuss that later. After your physical."

Inside, he was still angry; at the fact she'd thought she couldn't come to him more than anything else. He knew they still had things to talk about later, but right now, he was hoping he was right in celebrating this minor victory.

Jubilee followed at his heels like a puppy as they walked through the base, lost in her own thoughts as she walked; half-listening to Hank's quiet grumbles. But as they got closer to the med-lab, the hackles began to rise on the back of her neck and she stopped, turning in a slow circle. "Hank…something's not right…" She murmured and he stopped to look at her. To his eyes, she seemed on high-alert; eyes wide and head inclined as if straining to hear something.

"Jubilee?" He murmured carefully, beginning to strain his own ears to listen. "What is the matter?"

"Something…I don't know. Something feels hinky."

A few doors down, Scott was emerging from the briefing room and froze as the word reached his ears. "Jubilee? Hinky?" he called out and Jubilee nodded with a concerned frown, keeping her eyes on the corridor.

"Yeah…Hinky. As in 'not right'. As in 'something sinister this way comes'."

Inside the briefing room, Fury watched as Scott's entire posture changed. While the guy always looked alert, now he was positively radiating readiness for battle.

"Scott?"

"Everybody get ready for something." Scott threw over his shoulder, not turning to look at them. "Jubilee, what is it?" Behind him, the occupants of the room got to their feet and joined them in the corridor, looking around for trouble. Fury and Magneto looked sceptical, but one glance at Jubilee made Magneto sigh.

"Girl, what is it?" He snapped, and Jubilee's head whipped around to stare at him.

"I don't know. Something bad is com-" She broke off as the lights stretching down the corridor behind her began to shatter; plunging that half of the hall into darkness. "- is here."

She took a nervous step backwards as the shadows began to seethe in a now-familiar motion that turned her stomach, and taking a deep breath she threw a handful of paffs into the darkness, illuminating it and the figure sashaying out of a pool of inky blackness.

She didn't have a chance to call out a warning as Vectress brought her arm up from her side, revealing the gun she was holding, and walked the bullets up corridor towards them.

Standing behind Charles, Magneto was the first to react, and seeing the woman responsible for his daughter's death, he instinctively embraced his powers. Tearing loose a wall panel he sent it flying towards its target with a cry of rage. It all happened in one swift moment, but to Scott it felt like an eternity as he watched the metal bite into her flesh, sending her crashing to the ground. They all surged towards her, intent on stopping her, but as she fell they slowed and approached cautiously until they were standing around her, all ready to continue to fight if needed.

"Wh…?" A weak voice asked, and Charles went down on one knee beside her as the darkness drained away from her eyes. "Professor…what happened…?"

"Cara?" Charles brushed his fingers against the skin on her Temple and sucked in a deep breath when he felt the presence of her mind fading. "Cara, how…?"

"He promised me…and then I was gone…and he was in my place…" A tendril of blood poured out of her mouth as she convulsed in final throes of death. "Couldn't stop myself…can't stop him…you…must…stop…him…" the light faded from her eyes and Charles sat back on his heels, suddenly looking lost.

"Cara…" He sighed finally and gently closed her lifeless eyes with his fingertips. "Eric, you have your revenge." He murmured bitterly, looking up at his sometime friend, sometime foe.

Magneto bowed his head, but his gaze was steely and firm. "I thought that considering the facts, the action was warranted." He replied sadly, and looked over his shoulder, stepping to the side to reveal the body lying on the floor behind them.

If Charles hadn't already been kneeling down, he would have fallen, and as it was he slumped to the side until he was leaning against the wall in shock. Beside him, the blood drained from Scott's face as his mind suddenly began to replay the last few moments; Plasma lighting up the darkness…Vectress bringing up her gun, already firing …and now Jubilee lying face down on the floor, her hair fanning out in a shining black curtain, hiding her face from view.

Up in the mansion proper, a horrible feeling crept through the inhabitants and Jean staggered to the nearest wall to steady herself. "Jean?" Ororo asked worriedly, her own face paling as emotions that weren't her own bombarded her mind and crept through the marrow in her bones, making her shiver. "What's going on? Is it an attack?"

Jean shook her head, forcing down the bile that threatened to rise. "Yes…No. I don't know; it's Charles. He is upset…very, very upset." Lurching upright, she hurried towards the elevator, meeting Remy and Emma at the doors. They all looked at each other curiously, but she shook her head, unable to give them any answers.

Breaking into a run once they reached the right floor, Emma led the way, following the tendrils of sorrow to the source but unable to reach anyone; even Charles seemed incapable of coherent thought, let alone communication.

Turning a corner, Emma skidded to a stop as she saw why. Charles was slumped against the wall beside the bloody remains of Vectress, his eyes fastened on the floor by his feet. "Oh…" She blinked when she saw the body and let out a long, relieved breath. "You got her." She looked at Magneto and Heather, who were standing next to each other in the middle of the hall, looking increasingly uncomfortable, and neither of them would meet her gaze.

Jean's attention was drawn past them to Hank and Fury. The Colonel was standing with his back to Hank, his arms wrapped tightly around himself and a look of self-loathing on his face as he stared down at the floor between his boots. A few feet away, Hank was crouched with his arms wrapped around his knees as he stared at something his bulk blocked from her view.

"Hank?" She stepped over Cara's body and froze, her blood running cold. "Oh no…oh no…no, no, no, no, no…." she shook her head and took a step back, looking around wildly. Tears sprang into her eyes and she covered her mouth with her hand as she collided with the wall, sliding down until she was sitting. Emma closed her eyes in pain before steeling herself and stepping around them. She felt numb as she approached the body lying several feet away from Beast; she'd lost another one of her students. It couldn't be happening. Not now; not Jubilee.

Crouching down beside the body, she reached out and hesitantly placed her hands on Jubilee's shoulder, trying not to look at the small pool of blood that surrounded her head. "Oh, Jubilee." She murmured softly and gently turned her over onto her back, noting the blood that had seeped from her nose and head. Ignoring the cries of disbelief from Bobby as he stumbled on the grieving group, she moved aside the hair that covered her face with trembling fingers. The girl could have been sleeping; her face was tranquil, and thankfully her eyes were closed. Emma didn't think she could handle seeing the bright blue eyes glassy with death. Slipping into a sitting position, she crossed her legs tailor style as she stroked the jet-black hair.

"How?" She threw the question over her shoulder, and Hank squeezed his eyes closed, shaking his head at the memory.

"She shot her; a full clip, I'm guessin'." Remy grated out as he checked the gun lying on the ground beside Vectress. Magneto nodded sadly as Heather crept into his arms, seeking comfort.

"Jubilee was the nearest to her when she attacked." He confirmed, hugging the young woman close. "The child knew something was happening. She gave us enough warning to be prepared before Vectress appeared."

Emma struggled against her emotions for a long moment before moving aside the jacket with a frown. After a second, she hitched in a breath and rested the palm of her hand against Jubilee's chest. Another second passed and the corner of her lip twitched upwards. She could still feel movement, and as her eyes narrowed she realised that there was no blood other than that on the girls face. "You have gotta be kidding me." She grated out as relief rushed through her, and she ripped the bullet-hole strewn t-shirt apart to reveal the light grey uniform she had stolen from Hank's prototype lab. "Jubilee? Jubilee!" Patting at the girl's cheek with one hand, she searched for a pulse with the other, sighing with relief when she felt a strong pulse beneath her fingers.

"The girl has nine lives." She announced over her shoulder, her eyes sparkling with delight. "Whatever material this is," she plucked at the stiff grey uniform; "it stopped the bullets." She sat back on her heels laughing softly as Hank scrambled to his feet, pushing Storm aside in his haste to get to her.

"Alive?" he asked disbelievingly, and Emma nodded, moving away to give him room to work. "The little…!" He shook his head, recognising the material, and thumbed back her eyelids, his sensitive palms registering the heat of life in her skin. "Nine lives? She has nineteen!" He couldn't help but echo her smile as he shook his head, and gently gathered her up into his arms. "Of all the uniforms she chose to wear beneath her clothes…she picked the only one I designed to be completely bullet-proof."

* * *

In a quiet corner of Harry's Bar, tucked away from the regular drinkers and rowdy customers, Logan sipped slowly at a bottle of beer. Just back from one of Charles's secretive missions, he'd not even bothered to go back to the mansion. He had nothing to report, and if someone was looking for him, then there were ways and means to get his attention.

He looked up sharply as someone slid into the opposite side of the booth and grunted a hello as Remy began to shred a beer mat between his fingers, staring into the Canadian's eyes. Logan blinked at the reek of cologne that assaulted his nose and snorted. "Jeeze, Gambit, did ya have to take a bath in the stuff?" He grunted, shifting further along in the seat to try to get away from the stench of expensive cologne. The stink even drowned out the scent of his beer. "What?" Logan growled finally as the unblinking red on black eyes began to get on his nerves. "A guy's not allowed to drink any more? The suns' gone down…"

Remy shook his head, letting his eyes flick down to the table. "I be de last person to tell you when an' when not to drink." He muttered finally. "I jus' be tryin' to work out if you know or not. Me, I'm guessin' you don't."

Logan rolled his eyes and sat back against the padded back of the bench seat. "Know what? Spit it out, bub an' stop dancin' around it like the lily-livered poof you are."

"Jubilee, she got in touch with Fury; de hard way. Infiltrated de Heli-Carrier." Remy continued to shred the beer mat, sneaking glances up at the astonished mutant as he spoke. Logan grunted appreciatively and toasted an imaginary Jubilee. "Nice one. Always knew she had it in her."

Remy nodded slowly and took a long breath in. "Den Fury killed her. Shot de petite fifteen times in all." He said it casually, and it took a few seconds for his words to sink in, and even then, Logan wasn't sure if he could believe his ears.

"What?" He asked flatly, an inch of adamantium sliding out from between his knuckles.

"De Petite is gone."

Across the bar, Harry watched as the edge of the table in Logan's booth splintered and broke under his grip. Putting down the beer glass he was polishing, he checked to see who was with him before reaching for the phone behind him. After a few seconds, a familiar voice answered and he blinked, double-checking the inhabitants of the booth.

"I _said_ can I help you?" The New Orleans accent was thick and strong, and Harry blinked again.

"Uh…Remy Le Beau?" He asked cautiously, and back in the mansion, Remy sighed.

"Oui. Dat you 'Arry?"

"Ou-I mean, yeah. It's me. Listen, you got a twin brother or sumthin'?"

Remy blinked and frowned. "Non. Why?"

"'Cos I'm standing in my bar looking at you talk to Logan…and I'm talking to you on the phone. Can you see a problem here? I called to find out what was wrong…ain't never seen the Wolverine that upset if you get my meaning?"

"Shape Shifter…" Remy breathed out and slammed the phone down, racing for the front door. It wasn't long before he pulled up outside the bar and abandoned it in the car park, running at full pelt for the front door.

Bursting inside, he spotted Harry first, and the ex-biker pointed wordlessly towards their usual booth in the corner. Eyes narrowing, Remy produced a deck of cards and sent one spinning towards his doppelganger. It didn't pack much of a punch, but it was enough to shock Mystique out of her assumed form and out of the booth.

Logan was shocked out of his grief when he realised why Remy had been wearing so much cologne, and when his brain kicked back into action he launched himself at her, claws extended. A loud, frustrated cry rose into the air as she rolled under a table and disappeared into a shadow, and Remy glanced around nervously as the other bar patrons froze with their drinks to their lips, staring.

"How'd you know?" Logan growled, and Remy gestured at Harry.

"He rang de mansion to ask why you were…not happy…When he realise' he was talkin' to me, an' you were talkin' to me, well, I put two an' two together an' got Mystique." He grinned cat-like and walked a glowing card across his knuckle.

"Tell me it was all a lie…" Logan grabbed him by the lapels, using his forearm to pin Remy's neck against the wall. "Tell me she's not dead!"

Remy resisted the urge to fight Logan back, and quickly shook his head. "Non, mon amie. De Petite is alive." He coughed slightly as he was suddenly released, and Logan sat back against a table, blinking rapidly as the truth hit him. Finally he drew shaking hands down his face. "She told me Jubilee was dead – that Fury shot her an' that Chuck had him up at the mansion. Started talking…and god help me, I was listening…I was about two seconds from going up there and ripping him to shreds." He shook himself, feeling a shiver run down his spine. Catching the look on Remy's face his eyes closed to slits and his head turned to the side. "What?"

"Oh, de Petite was shot _at_. Jus' not shot. An' she was knocked out." Remy shrugged nonchalantly as Harry nervously approached.

"She what?" Logan's tone was flat and disbelieving.

"Shot at. Not shot. Not dead. Scared a few of us, I gotta say. An' she probably saved a lot of lives. What did Mystique say to you?"

"The Heli-Carrier?"

"Jubes did dat."

"And Fury?"

"Brought de Petite home safe'n sound. She be 'resting' in de Med-Lab under Hank's careful eye."

"She's not dead." Logan asked worriedly, and Remy smiled.

"You tink we'd not move heaven an' earth to tell you if anythin' happened to de petite?" He murmured pointedly as Harry looked from one to the other, clearly confused. "She's not dead. She's under de watchful eye of Beast an' about a half dozen other people that saw her 'die'. She is _fine._" Remy stressed, and with a backward glance over his shoulder, began to urge Logan towards the door. "Jus' add it to our Tab, Harry." He advised, nodding to the damaged tabletop.

"What do you mean Die!"

"Vectress…urgh." Remy let out a frustrated growl and pushed him towards the door. "Vectress shot at de petite an' Magneto killed Vectress. Get movin' Canuck so you can see for yourself!"

Logan allowed him to push him out the door but stopped out in the darkness. "An' stop wearing cologne!" He growled, stalking off towards his bike.

* * *

The med-lab was deathly quiet when he edged inside, almost afraid of what he'd see. What he did see, in fact, was a number of former Gen-X'ers hovering around a bed while Hank examined something underneath a microscope.

Emma was the first to register his presence, and she eased away from the group, walking silently across the tiles until she stood in front of him. "Welcome back." She breathed softly, confident that Logan would still hear her. "Broken nose, a cut on her head and some bruises to add to the list." A sad, soft smile crossed her face. "She'll be fine." Logan frowned worriedly; the White Queen was being uncharacteristically kind, and she rested her hand on his bicep as she moved to walk past him to the door.

//Just for now, Mountain Man. She scared me earlier…scared all of us. I'll be back to my normal acerbic self in a few hours.// he felt the equivalent of a telepathic wink and moved aside to let her pass.

"Furball; how is she?" He grunted at Hank, and the blue-furred mutant raised his head, the points of his ears twitching.

"Fine, just fine. I gave her a proper physical. Everything was in the right place aside from her nose, which has now been set. She has a cut to her scalp, and other than that, she is perfectly fine. You will have to forgive her team mates; they have only just arrived home from dealing with some sentinels in Boston and are, I believe the term is 'in denial'."

Kitty turned at the sound of his voice, looking slightly green. "Logan – where have you been!"

"Harry's." Logan grunted as Everett and Jono shared a glance and moved away from the bed, leaving Paige and Monet to stand as sentinels on either side of the pillows. "Had a run-in with Mystique."

"Had a run-in with Vectress." Jubilee muttered from the bed, raising her hand to her nose and feeling it gingerly. "Morning."

Hank sighed and set aside the uniform, flicking a glance at the monitors before bending over her. "Welcome back, little one." He murmured, dimming the light above her head. He smiled as her eyes flickered open and she blinked up at him.

"What happened to the Shadow-Spawn?" She growled, trying to sit up and failing miserably as Hank planted a hand in the middle of her chest and easily held her in place against the pillows.

"Magneto dealt with her." Hank murmured, his eyes shifting, showing his discomfort at the subject.

"She's dead?"

Hank nodded slowly. "She came back just before she died. We know now that they are being forced to a corner of their minds."

He could feel her relax under his fingers and he smiled gently, removing his massive paw from her chest.

Spotting Logan behind him Jubilee waved half-heartedly, her expression worried at the reaction she was going to get from him.

"You got onto the Heli-Carrier." He growled flatly and she bit at her lip. Wordlessly, sensing a fight in the near future, Page and Monet fled the room, leaving the three of them alone. "You infiltrated one of the most secure military sites on the planet. You…you…" His face creased into a wide smile and he started to laugh. "Jeeze, kid, I'd 've given anythin' to see the look on Fury's face when he found out!"

Jubilee blew out a long breath and gingerly sat up. "He was pretty pissed, Logan. He thought I was one of the bad guys." She admitted as Hank began to remove the sensors on her skin. "Not a happy bunny. 'Course he was even less happy when he realised that Vectress had been playing him for weeks! Am I good to go Hank?" She looked at him hopefully and he helped her off the bed in answer.

"I trust our discussion earlier today has sunk in?" he asked pointedly and she nodded with a sheepish smile.

"Yeah. It did. Punctuated by bullets." She smiled again and twitched the large scrubs top into place.

As she turned to leave, Logan spotted the brown stone ball sitting on one of the trays and snagged it. "This thing sure does get around." He commented, tapping her on the shoulder and handing it over.

"She had it in her hand when she was shot." Hank admitted. "Emma found it on the floor. You had best put it back in your room."

Jubilee rolled her eyes and took it from him. "Damn right I'm going back into my room. I look like a kid wearing her dad's clothes. How about getting some of these things in my size for once? C'mon, Wolvie, and I'll tell you how I got onto the Heli-Carrier."

Logan nodded. "You go ahead, kid. I just want to talk to Hank for a minute."

He waited until she was out of the room before clearing his throat. "You two had a discussion?"

"She thought she was not worthy to disturb me from my experiments to be treated for ailments she deemed to be minor." Hank admitted quietly, picking up the uniform he had been examining. "I pointed out the error in her logic. I may have raised my voice a little while pointing it out…Logan, I believe she did not come to you about her little excursion to the Heli-Carrier."

Logan's eyes narrowed and he closed the door, making sure no one could overhear them. "Yeah; what about it?"

"That does not bother you? That she would not trust you with something that important?" Logan realised that Beast was really worried, and shook his head.

"Bothers me some, I'll admit. But she's not a child, Beast. She's an adult; in her eyes at least. Tell me there hasn't been some kind of mission when you've gone off to do the necessary and haven't exactly told anyone about it because you knew there'd be objections." When Beast didn't answer, he knew he'd hit the mark. "Beast…The kid's talented. We both know that. She's also stubborn as hell which isn't exactly a great combination. But she's got good instincts and we've all had a hand in training her. We gotta let her go sometime."

"Are you intimating that I am suffering from…'empty nest' syndrome?" Beast asked, surprised, and Logan's face creased in a grin.

"Wouldn't quite put it that way, Hank, but you gotta admit…you have been clucking at her a lot lately."

He hid his laugh behind a cough when Hank glared at him, and went to leave. "Just give her some space to be herself; find out who exactly she is. That's what I'm doing…what she asked me to do. It's the least of what I can do for her."

He caught up with her as she headed towards the kitchen, tossing the ball up into the air and catching it.

"Everything ok?" She asked curiously, and Logan nodded.

"Yep. You?"

"Yep." She started to laugh and he marvelled at her ability to bounce back. It hadn't been that long since her best friend had tried to kill her. "I need food more than clothes that fit me. You want some? I know 'Ro bought some steaks the other day; said she'd leave them in the freezer. I can thaw them lickety split and make some nice steak sandwiches…with fries…" She teased him as she led the way, and he was surprised to find himself salivating.

"Ok, kid. You got me."

"Well, the way to a man's heart is usually through his stomach." She replied blithely, walking through the swing-door backwards. As her foot hit the tiles she slipped and the ball flew into the air, sailing straight towards the occupied kitchen table.

As Bobby and Paige cringed away from the projectile, Heather stood and caught it neatly in her naked hand with a triumphant cry.

"Sorry! …" Jubilee called out as she scrabbled to her feet. It was only when she was upright that she realised that the kitchen had fallen completely silent. Heather was standing with her arm still outstretched; the ball loosely cupped between her fingers, staring at it intently and Paige and the others moved away as the her hair began to rise from shoulders to form a halo around her head.

"It's ok, guys…she did that in London when we went to pick her up. She had a bit of a moment when she touched Jono without her gloves on." Logan didn't sound too confident, but Jono agreed, coming out from behind the table.

"Yeah…she said it's some kind of telepathy."

"She's a Touch-Clairvoyant." Jubilee added, wondering in the back of her mind if the woman's head was going to spin around like a bad horror movie.

"Where'd you get that thing…?" Logan asked cautiously and Jubilee shrugged, keeping her eyes fixed on Heather.

"Dunno. I found it on my windowsill when I got back from the Heli. I don't know how it got there."

"I put it there; it was in yer hand the night Polaris was buried and the Lawyer was killed." He watched as Paige edged out of the kitchen, intent on finding someone to help.

"I never saw it before that." Jubilee countered, and she suddenly began shaking her head, silently berating herself. "Sunovabitch!" She exclaimed finally. "That must have been what Angelo was looking for! Not some damned piece of paper! A bloody piece of rock! Oh for Christ's sake! I must have put it and that piece of paper down my top to keep it safe and when I got home it fell out and you must have thought it was an ornament …"

With her declaration, the tension in the room rose as the others went from viewing Heather with curiosity to wondering if she was going to explode at some point in the near future. Desperately torn between taking the object away from her and letting whatever vision she was suffering run its course, they stood rooted to the spot as the black and purple hair waved gently in the air.

Finally, the locks of hair settled down again and Heather blinked, breaking the spell. "Wow." She muttered, stunned, and staggered backwards, bumping into the table and finally leaning against it heavily. "That was…intense." She blinked with uncertainty and shook herself before finally realising everyone was still staring at her mutely. "What? You lot never seen a girl have a proper vision before?"

Jubilee shook her head as she attempted to remove her eyebrows from her hairline, and cleared her throat. "Honestly? No."

Heather blinked and then shrugged. "Right then…Guess I'd better go talk to someone who has." She levered herself upright and lurched out the door, and after a pointed look from Logan, Monet, Bobby and Jono followed her to make sure she got there ok.

"Shouldn't we go with her? Find out what that was all about?" Jubilee asked quietly, and Logan shook his head, heading for the large walk-in freezer.

"We'll find out soon enough when they work out whatever the hell it is she saw." He grumbled, emerging with a pair of steaks. "But right now, you and me are going eat steak. Defrost these and I'll get started."

"I was going to-"

"You've had a busy day, kid. Sit down and tell me how you did it."

Jubilee made short work of defrosting the meat and sat up on the counter, watching him search for a frying pan. As he worked, she quickly ran through how she managed to get through the defences and he nodded appreciatively. By the time they were sitting at the table with their meal, Logan was staring at her again.

"What?" She asked around a mouthful of food.

"You nearly died a handful of times in the past 24 hours and yer not bothered?" He asked after a long silence, keeping his tone deliberately mild.

Rolling her eyes, she sat back in the chair and blew out a long breath. "I was at the time." She admitted, steering the fries around the plate. "But…that was then and this is now. I'm not dead. I'm still standing. I learned a valuable lesson – I should have handed myself over to Diablo and asked to talk to Nick instead of being a smart-ass and sneaking into his office. But other than that I'm fine."

"Really?" the sarcasm in his voice made her wince, and she nodded slowly, picking up a fry and steering it through the salt on her plate.

"Listen, Logan, when Jono talked to me, he beat a couple of things into my head. He also reminded me that we needed our best. And I like to think I'm one of them. I need to be on the top of my game and now is not the time to be freaking out and acting like the kid I've never been. Right?"

"Yer allowed freak, pumpkin. I've done enough of it in my time."

"Yeah, right! The Wolfmeister freaking? I think not!"

"Trust me, kid, the 'Wolfmeister' has freaked. Maybe you didn't see it, but there's been times…"

"Like when?!"

"Hanging on the cross when I was crucified and realising I was being' helped by someone that didn't come up as far as my bellybutton. Smellin' yer scent out in the desert and realisin' that Bastion had you and I never knew it. Then when I found you an' realised you'd been tortured. They were some of the worst moments in my life, kid."

"Oh." Her gaze dropped down to her plate as she remembered the horrible time of her life she'd almost managed to forget, and he mentally cursed himself.

"Sorry for bringing it up…"

She managed a smile and shook her head. "Don't. Like everything else, it happened, we got through it, and it's over now."

Seeing that her words hadn't even gone part-way to making him feel better, she abandoned her plate and hurried around the table, throwing her arms around his broad shoulders to hug him tightly. "It's over, Logan. I'm ok. We're ok...I promise, everything is going to be ok." He closed his eyes and let her scent wrap itself around him in a comforting blanket, holding her as tightly as he dared without breaking any of her fragile bones. "I love you Wolvie."

"I love you too, kid. Forever..."


	12. Road Trip

**Sorry about the delay - severe case of writers block - I do know where the story is going, it's just that sometimes the characters don't want to get there :) **

* * *

_**The neighbours ran out of their houses to see the flames reach high towards the night sky, watching the fire department struggle to put out the blaze; a blaze that was too large and all-encompassing to be accidental. A small, fancy car sat in the drive, now just an empty, blackened shell; an obstacle the firemen were cursing as they tugged at their hoses to gain more length to move closer. Flames licked around the eaves, and it was morning before the still smoking, still steaming remains of the house were approachable.**_

_**When the sun was high in the sky, they poked through the ashes, looking for the charred remains of the family that hadn't been seen since the fire began; the father, the mother, the children…and their guests. **_

_**Neighbours when asked would talk of strange noises coming from the house that night; sounds of a fight – a pitched battle, some said. Of ice spears shattering windows as they passed through them, lasers bursting through the roof. The investigators couldn't pinpoint if the fire was set or was just an accident… no bodies were found…**_

_**And in the darkness that seethed and writhed like a boiling cauldron, the shadows watched and waited to call home another taken soul…**_

**

* * *

**

Checking his watch, Logan frowned at the early hour showing, but continued working his way silently down the hall. Pushing open the door to her room he smiled softly, thoughts of the mission momentarily allayed by the sight of his quarry lying peacefully in her bed, tousled hair spread across the pillow as she slept, looking like an innocent child. Not that she was in any way innocent, but watching her sleep peacefully eased the lingering tension from his little meeting with Mystique the evening before. The slight bruising and swelling of her nose made him frown, but he was damned proud of her. She'd held her ground over the last couple of weeks, and proved herself over and over again; to his eyes at least.

A light touch on her toe was all it took for her eyes to flicker open, revealing their bright blue irises, and she blinked at him blearily.

"Jono?" She murmured sleepily and his smile turned into a frown. "Whut?-"

"What the flaming hell would Jono be doing in your bedroom in the middle of the night?" He growled softly, and she sat up, sending the soft toy she'd been clutching tumbling to the ground.

"Usually the same thing you'd be doing in my bedroom in the middle of the night." She retorted, keeping her voice low as she checked her watch. "Logan, what the hell are you doing here at 3 am?"

"Breaking you out. C'mon, get dressed; quick and silent, just like I taught you." He opened her closet and dragged out a demure dress, throwing it to her. She caught it deftly, looking at him with worry.

"What's going on?"

"Change into that. We got a mission; just the two of us. Hurry up; I'll explain in the car. Meet me 'round the front." He stuffed some more articles of clothing into a bag and disappeared out the door, leaving her confused and slightly worried, but quickly clambered into the rest of her gear and hurried downstairs, sitting on the front steps to put on the sensible shoes that went with her outfit. Her interest was piqued when Logan turned up driving an SUV, not his bike and she managed to hold in her questions until they'd hit the highway.

"Ok, seriously dude, what's going on? – And don't say we're on a mission for Charles; I got that part."

Logan smiled grimly and adjusted his position in the seat. "Calm down, kid. This is covert, not dangerous. You and me need to drive down to Louisiana. That Heather kid, she saw a couple of things about that ball when she laid her hands on it. She says it showed her what it wanted to show her and then pretty much kicked her out."

"And what'd it show her?"

Logan fell silent, his lips tightening. Finally, he answered her. "Remember the Temple…the one you were afraid of?"

"Which one?" The dry sarcasm in her voice made him snort and he flicked a glance at her, a grudging half-grin on his face.

"The second one. She described it to a T. Right down to the carvings over the door. She was pretty jumbled up, but she talked of some kind of hands reaching for her…it, whatever. She said she was seeing things through it's awareness. The ball, I mean. Hands reached for her, and she was brought some place and put in a box. Then it came to the Lawyer and she saw it being put into the floor safe. She said she also got some kind of emotions from the ball when she was holding it. She said that the second it came into contact with you, it felt safe."

Jubilee wrinkled her nose and turned in her seat to look at him properly, tucking one leg beneath her. "That is a really weird thing to say, you know that? How can an inanimate object have feelings?"

Logan's knuckles tightened around the steering wheel and he shrugged. "I don't know, kid. Maybe it ain't inanimate. You ever think of that?"

The thought shut them both up for a while.

"So, where are we going?"

"New Orleans."

"If we're going to New Orleans, then how come Remy isn't coming? It's his home town after all."

"What part of covert don't you understand? Cajun's face is probably one of the biggest attractions in the French Quarter. Hell, I bet half the lowlife's in the city know his face inside out. Last thing we need is someone recognising us.."

"Ok, and when was the last time you got some shut eye?" She queried and he hunched over in the seat as he jerked the car back into the right lane.

"I got enough. Just close yer eyes, ok?"

"And why didn't we take the jet?"

"'Cos we're supposed to be incognito!"

Smirking, Jubilee leant back against the car door and closed her eyes, intent on catching a little more much needed sleep. After a couple of hours, she woke up to find that the car was stopped and Logan was opening the passenger side door from the outside. Once he was sure she was fully awake, he held out a small plastic drivers licence in front of her face and she frowned.

"What's this for?"

"Shut up and get behind the wheel. I need to catch some shut-eye." He sounded grumpy and she clambered out into a ditch, realising that the car must have narrowly avoided going straight into it.

She barely managed to contain a grumbled 'told you so' and quickly scampered around to the drivers seat, adjusting it until it was comfortable. She took another glance at the licence and grinned when she realised it named her as Jubilee Patch. "Ok, dad, are you ready to rock?" A snore answered her and she started to laugh, putting the car in gear and carefully steering it out onto the road again.

XXXxxxXXX

Heather sat in the kitchen of the mansion; a place where most people seemed to gravitate to every day – after all, everyone had to eat. Sipping at her coffee, the clairvoyant found herself thinking about the past few days. A horrifying dream that had spurred her to phone Charles; a man she knew only through her mother and grandmother's memories and a brief introduction at her Grandmothers funeral. Then being picked up by the two handsome gentlemen that constantly battled the dark auras that hung around them like their own personal clouds. Surprisingly, though, she thought to herself, the younger of the two had a lighter core to his aura, as though something was burning away the darkness.

And the other one…She shuddered slightly and blew on her coffee, taking a large mouthful. He was surrounded by blood and guts. Anyone with half a brain could see that. And yet, the second that little Asian girl came near him…it faded away like mist under the rising sun. That thought made her smile and she sat back into her chair, smiling softly. The girl had sparks coming from her aura. A real live wire…

"Something funny?" A southern accent drawled almost angrily, and Heather started; she hadn't even realised someone had come inside.

"What?

"Ah said, is somethin' funny?" Heather blinked and realised she was staring straight at the girl with the skunk stripe going through her hair.

"Uh…not funny…well, I guess you could find it funny. I was thinking about auras and the fact that that girl Jubilee has sparks coming from hers, and you know, she softens Wolverine's aura whenever they come into contact? I've never really seen that before…in fact, I don't think any of us have…clairvoyants I mean."

Severely hung over and not really in the mood for conversation, Rogue grunted and sloppily filled her mug with coffee. After a second, she wrinkled her nose and looked confused. "What? And who are you?"

"Heather. Heather Dorian. I'm a friend of Charles and Eric's…well…uh…." The young woman blushed slightly and shrugged. "Actually, it's more that my mother and grandmother were friends of theirs…but hey, the association passed on to me. It's got its benefits, I must admit. One phone call in the middle of the night after a nightmare and they send two quite handsome men to escort me here. Just remind me never to touch Jono again. That boy has way too much karma to go with an altogether troubled aura."

Rogue's ears finally caught up with her brain, and she shook her head again. "What?"

"Touch clairvoyant." Heather held up her hand and waved, showing her gloves. "I can't touch anything without getting a glimpse of something. Which means whenever I travel, I carry my own soap…" She giggled quietly, and Rogue sat down opposite her.

"You can't touch anything?"

"I can't…a bit like you, really, though I can't kill anyone by touch alone. I get foretelling dreams…if I touch someone I can get their future, their past…their present. Thoughts, dreams…depends on the luck of the draw really. It sucks sometimes…y'know?"

Rogue found herself nodding and adjusting her own gloves. "Me, Ah just get their powers, memories and sometimes their personalities. Which, as you say; sucks."

When Scott entered the kitchen, he found the two of them giggling over a magazine and then did a double-take when he realised that Rogue was giggling. Not that she didn't on occasion, but seeing her that close to another human was unnerving.

"Have either of you seen Jubilee? I haven't seen her since …what?"

Still with a smile on her face, Heather's eyebrows rose up and she shrugged. "I saw her and Logan head off at about 3 o'clock yesterday morning. They were both packed…though I must say, the girl looked a little irate to be up at that hour…"

"He…I don't believe this…Rogue, suit up; we've got a mission." Scott growled in a passable imitation of Logan and stalked out of the kitchen again, the door swinging to and fro behind him.

"I take it that was the wrong thing to say?" Heather asked worriedly as she and Rogue got to their feet. The Southerner sighed and shook her head.

"Oh, Ahm sure Logan just took her off on a trip or a mission when he shouldn't have. No biggie."

XXXxxxXXX

Logan and Jubilee swapped seats frequently during the long drive to New Orleans, and they entered New Orleans just as the sun was coming up. As they passed through a bad looking neighbourhood, Jubilee sighed dejectedly, imagining the rat-bag motel he'd pick. To her surprise he kept going until they reached a better part of the city and pulled up outside a nice looking hotel.

Catching her curious look, he smiled and shrugged. "Logan Patch is a nice guy. He took in his thirteen year old niece when her dead-beat mother skipped out on her and has raised her ever since. She's turned into a nice, well spoken, well rounded member of the community. She doesn't cuss, she dresses nicely and she says please and thank you."

Jubilee's eyebrow shot up high and she snorted. "Right, and what about Mr. Patch?"

"He's a well rounded member of the community. We're respectable for this trip, kiddo."

Jubilee snorted, opening the car door and swinging her legs around and out of the foot well like Jean and her mother before her had drilled into her when she was a kid and straightened her hair before getting out, knees together. "Chuck owes me big time for this one." She grumbled, and glanced down at her bag. "Logan Patch wouldn't dream of letting a young lady carry her own bags." She remarked pointedly and Logan nodded grudgingly before firing his bag at her.

"Fine, then Jubilee Patch can carry my bag."

When they entered reception, they were both laughing, and Logan booked them in with no problems, escorting her to the room next to his. After a few minutes, the door between the two rooms swung open thanks to a few seconds work with a set of hair pins, and Logan cocked his eyebrow up at her.

"When in New Orleans, do as the resident Cajun would do." She smirked and hopped onto his bed. "So, what are we doing exactly?"

"Kitty did some searching on the names Heather gave her. She didn't find much, but she came up with some expedition to South America that happened a long, long time ago. Most of the surviving people'd probably be in their 80's or 90's. One of 'em; Edward DeNare, moved here from England in the 80's. He's the guy that picked up the orb – that's what Chuck's calling it now – and he's the guy that sent it to the Lawyer. They tried to contact him a couple of times, but there's been no answer. His home address is here, and from what Kitty could tell, there's a small exhibition of his collection somewhere in the City. We find the guy, tell him what we know and ask him to share what he knows; find out if there's any more of them things around and if he knows what it's supposed to do and why the bad guys are so interested in it."

Half an hour later, Logan looked up at the impressive colonial style house. "Guy's got money."

Jubilee ignored him, concentrating on the sign on the gate. "It looks like we hit both jackpots. This is the home of Dr. Edward DeNare and the exhibition centre. C'mon, it's open."

She led the way inside, following the signs into the exhibition room. Inside, the small room was packed full of displays, and she felt a chill rise through her as a large print of an old black and white photograph greeted her just inside the door. It was the first Temple; the one that she and Logan had found after the crash and her breath hitched in her throat.

"I see it kid-" Logan put his hand on her shoulder and steered her away from it, only to be confronted by a second poster-sized image, this time of the inside of the temple she and Generation X had discovered. As she gaped, he took a quick glance around and realised that the place was filled with empty boxes; as though everything was about to be packed up. The place was empty of people and he looked closer at the image. "Looks like we got the right guy…" He growled softly as the sound of soft footsteps approached.

"The first picture is the Temple and Village of Ehecatl. The second is the Temple of Chalchiuhtlicue. Ehecatl was the God of Wind…and his breath moved the sun, amongst other things. Chalchiuhtlicue is the Goddess of Birth, lakes and streams. My husband was on the dig that discovered both temples in 1950." The elderly, white-haired woman looked proud as she stood with both hands on her cane, and she smiled sadly at them.

"Mrs. DeNare?"

"Esther. My name is Esther. How can I help you?"

Logan stepped closer and cleared his throat. "Mrs. DeNare, we are lookin' to speak to your husband about a matter of importance. He sent something to a friend of ours who recently passed away. We don't know why he sent it, but it's important to-"

"My husband is dead, Mr…?"

"Logan, Logan Patch." Logan held out his hand and shook hers firmly.

"Well, Mr. Logan Patch, I am afraid my husband has recently passed away. He was murdered. What did Edward send him?"

"A small, brown stone ball." Jubilee piped up, and didn't miss how her eyes darted to a large display case against the wall. "That you obviously know about."

"I didn't even realise it was gone." Mrs DeNare hazarded, leading them over to the case which held a ceremonial robe and a large, feathered headdress. It was a semi-circle of solid gold etched with a language she couldn't read and embossed with designs. Black and yellow feathers rose out of it in a three-foot wide fan and the whole thing took her breath away. At the bottom was a small, empty stand and a placard that spoke only of the headdress.

"When did your husband pass?" Logan asked carefully, and the woman looked down at her feet before giving him the date he was dreading.

They both winced when they realised that his day of death was the same as the late Spilios Patras, and Jubilee glanced at Logan before asking; "It's not just a brown stone ball, is it?" She pressed, and Esther shook her head.

"I don't know what you are talking about…he found it at the Temple of Chalchiuhtlicue…that's all I know."

"Mrs. DeNare, there is something out there…something bad, and I have a pretty good suspicion that this Shadow Man…thing, and that Orb had something to do with your husbands death, and he knew why they wanted it." Seizing on a sudden thought, she pressed on; "We don't know how they're connected; all we have to go on is the fact that your husband sent the Orb to us via another man who then died a horrible, violent death. To work out what is happening, we have to know what you know…whatever you know about his trip to that temple, no matter how trivial."

Esther took in a deep breath and hurried to the front door, shutting and locking it. "There is no one else in the house right now. And to answer your question; I don't know what the stone ball is. I don't know anything about that expedition, save for the fact that something bad happened. My husband would never speak of it. When I found him in his study…he was dying, he told me that someone would come and ask about the Shadow or someone called the Shadow Man and that I was to help them…but even then, he would not speak of it. All he kept saying was someone would come. For a moment, I was afraid; I thought he meant those who had attacked him. But then he smiled…and he was gone. He would not have smiled if those he spoke of wished me dead too."

Jubilee suddenly felt bad for the woman. Whatever their mission; whatever their problems, she had just lost her husband; someone she had loved for a lifetime. "I'm so sorry, Mrs. DeNare…"

Esther shook her head, swallowing back the lump in her throat. "It's ok, child. He wasn't young. He'd lived his life." Her eyes took on some life again as she looked around the room. "His life, and probably a few other people's while he was at it. He was eighty-five on his last birthday. A mean feat for anyone let alone a rogue adventurer like he was." She gave her a watery smile and shook her head again. "If you could have seen him when he was in his prime…those movies, those Indiana Jones movies…that was so like him. He was so dashing…" Her eyes went misty again and she bit at her lip, her eyes fixing on her shoes and staying there.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. DeNare…" and she was sorry for the old woman; and for themselves. The trip was looking more and more like a complete dead end.

Instead of answering, Esther led them back to the first display case. "He was so serious after he came back from there…" She mused, clasping her hands on top of her cane once more, an odd expression on her face. "I know something happened on that trip…other than Charlie." She sighed again and opened a drawer beneath the display case. Inside were a number of photographs and she removed one, placing it on the glass. It was a black and white group shot of what looked to be an expedition party, and Esther proudly pointed out her husband who was sitting on the ground with a cocky grin on his face. Esther's finger shook slightly when she moved on to the next man.

"Charlie Brooker. Edward always called him a young fool. I don't know why; save that of all of them he was the only one not to return from that expedition. There was no body; no burial. He left behind a mother and father and a wealth of gambling debts." Her expression turned into a worried frown, and Logan suspected it was an expression that crossed her face every time she thought of the young man who had been destined never to grow old. Finally, she picked up the photograph and placed it back inside its folder.

"You can take it." She announced decisively. "All of it. Whatever you need from that expedition you can take the lot. I can't give you information, but I can give you whatever I have if it will help you find those that murdered my husband. Papers, artefacts…everything for as long as you need it. I've never looked at them and the Museum people don't know what they are getting yet. I'll tell them I'm keeping it for myself; it was his first expedition after all." She nodded sharply and gestured to Jubilee. "You, young lady, can start packing the things from those two display cases. There is not much, I know; most went to museums when they returned and those are just his personal keep-sakes. And you, young man, can come and help me bring down his journals. They aren't much, but I can't carry much these days." She blushed slightly at the admission of weakness, but led the way out of the room with her back ramrod straight and her head held high.

By the time they returned, Jubilee had packed the last artefact away and was flipping through the folder Esther had handed her. Esther followed Logan slowly, and her expression was troubled, but Logan's was one of pure and utter fury.

"What?"

"Creed's scent was all over the place." He snapped shortly. "He probably tortured DeNare for the location of the Orb, and then went straight to Spilios and did the same.

Jubilee straightened imperceptibly, and Esther felt a chill run through her as she saw girls eyes harden.

"That's another one on the tally." Jubilee put the folder into an open box with deliberate care and straightened, feeling the strain she'd put on her body over the last few days make its appearance. "Mrs. DeNare-"

"Esther."

"Esther, your husband will be avenged. I promise you that. He won't have died in vain." With that, she picked up the box and stalked out the front door, grumbling beneath her breath.

Gritting his teeth, Logan put the armful of Journals into the second box and turned to thank Esther, who was looking at him curiously. "Your daughter seems upset."

"She's had her own run-ins with Creed. As have I." He sighed, feeling some of the tension drain away again. "The guy is like a bad penny; turns up when everything is going from bad to worse. But she's right, ma'am. Vic Creed is an Assassin. He's racked up a lot of deaths; some of 'em quite personal to me…to us…and some day I'll make him account for every single damned one of 'em. And yer husband will be on that list."

XXXxxxXXX

As Logan was nervous about leaving anything in the car or drawing attention to themselves by carrying it all up to the room, he left Jubilee behind in the car while he picked up their meagre belongings and checked out of the hotel. Picking up one of the Journals, she began reading, and by the time he'd come back she was thoroughly engrossed in the memories recorded on the yellowed pages.

"You ready to go?" He asked as he slipped behind the wheel, and he got a grunt in reply. Rolling his eyes, he pointed them towards home and began retracing their earlier journey.

Finally Jubilee began to flip faster through the pages, speed-reading; a skill that had always impressed him. While he wasn't exactly a dunce, reading was still a chore. You'd never find him reading a book for pleasure.

"They got to the temple at dawn." She began quietly, and he quickly turned down the radio. "Trekked through the night from their base camp and set up another camp about a hundred meters away from the temple. The entire party went to the temple, but only nine of them went in it. Their guides argued with the others and fled, leaving them. They studied the outside of the temple for a few days before a few of them found a way in, and realised there was a second, smaller temple inside. Charlie Brooker disturbed something…" She frowned and turned the page. "I can't read some of it; his writing gets shaky…" she muttered as she tried to decipher the stylised handwriting. "A wind began to blow inside…he got scared…Charlie went further inside…he says they urged him not to go on but he wouldn't listen. Their torches died and were blown out…uh…?"

"Probably their battery torches, and then rush torches like the natives'd use." Logan supplied, flicking a glance at her as her nose practically touched the paper.

"Right…'Darkness enveloped us like a shroud and the sound of howling penetrated our ears. Charlie disappeared into the darkness ahead of us. There came the sound of whispering; a noise that grated against our very bones and chilled us to the marrow. Words in an ancient language, said in anger…we were told to leave…to get out…then Charlie screamed. At this point our courage failed us and we fled, leaving Charlie to the mercies of whatever demon had descended into our midst. When we emerged into the daylight, it was difficult to warm ourselves or to explain to our waiting friends what had occurred within those cursed walls. They scoffed at our tale and followed our tracks inside. It did not take long for them to emerge once more, at speed with frost on their beards and hair. And with them they carried a burden wrapped in their coats; the weight of that memory will haunt me for the rest of my days. He is dead by our hands. Our cowardice and fear have brought about his untimely end and for that there is no restitution.'"

Jubilee fell silent for a moment, her eyes tearing up as she continued to read aloud. "'We spent the night huddled together in the midst of the camp by the fire but we were unable to light it once the rains began. In the dawn light we found that most of the camp had been flattened in the deluge, but thankfully, little was lost or ruined. We attempted to bury Charlie this morning, but the soil was difficult to dig through as the roots and decomposed matter made it impossible to go far into the earth. The poor man will have to suffice with a shallow, unmarked grave as we will not stay here a moment longer. Even our very dreams are invaded; voices and emotions that seemed not to be our own running through the darkness of our minds entreating us to join with _him_; none slept well last night. Our guides have not returned and I truly doubt they ever will. We will break camp as soon as the morning meal has finished and retrace our steps to the base camp carrying with us as much as we can; scant little in this climate I fear."

Jubilee lapsed into silence and the next hundred miles was travelled quietly, with Logan staring at the road in front of them, Jubilee reading silently, a worried look on her face.

Finally, Logan looked over at her and found her chewing at her lip almost violently as she stared out the window. "What else does it say?"

"They broke camp; started trekking back through the jungle. Without their guides they got lost. Found a second temple and I'm guessing it's the one we found with Gen-X – the one in the second poster in the exhibition room. They set up camp in the ruins and began to explore it. When they went inside the temple…something like before talked to them…to him. He said it scared him, but unlike before it felt like light, not an enveloping shadow. The fear he had wasn't as heavy as before…more awe than fear. Like the difference between meeting the devil and meeting an angel. He felt that there was hope in its words. It told them that they had woken pure darkness and unleashed it on the world. That it had been waiting for its chance to rectify past wrongs...It gave them a task to help to put to right what they had done. They each had to carry one orb with them until told otherwise. They weren't to lose, sell or damage them in any way. He hid his in his bag and they left to find the others and try to get back to safety…He didn't say a whole lot about the second meeting, Logan. I think the whole thing just scared him too much. There might be more in the other journals and papers, but that's it for this one. The next entry after that just says that when he arrived home he found that he couldn't talk to Esther about what had happened, but he asked her for her hand in marriage on the spot. She agreed…and it stops there."

She closed the journal carefully and put it into the box behind her. "So, Charlie and the others woke the Shadow Man in the first temple. In the second temple they disturbed something else that gave them the orbs to try to put things right…what the hell do the orbs do? And can we trust whatever it was that gave them the orbs?"

"God only knows." Logan growled. "Probably find out when everything's read. And as for the trust thing…it's not exactly like we got a choice, now, is it?"

Jubilee blew out a long breath and put her feet flat against the dashboard, resting her chin on her knees. "This is a whole big mess, isn't it." She murmured worriedly, her voice turning into a squeak as she turned her head slightly to look at him. "We thought it was a telepath but it's beginning to look like it isn't…How can you fight a God? How can you fight a shadow?!"

Logan reached out and placed his hand on her hair, rubbing his thumb against her cheek. "Very carefully, pumpkin. We'll do it though."

"Ya really think?"

Logan nodded slowly. "No use thinking any other way."

They travelled for another half hour before Logan slammed on the brakes, jerking her out of a deep sleep as she was flung forwards towards the dashboard. "Sweet Merciful Jes-What the hell Logan!" She darted an angry look at him, but he held his finger to his lips as he put the SUV into reverse.

"We just passed a Super changing a tyre. Bob was at Polaris's funeral. Cyke said they live in California; I want to know what the hell he's doing in Tennessee. Get down and get ready."

She didn't need to be told twice, and she melted down in the seat until she was sure she couldn't be seen by the people standing at the stricken car. Before they stopped, she angled the mirror so she could see them and prepared herself for a fight.

A last glance in the mirror showed Logan he was right about who it was; Bob was holding the car up while attempting to undo the nuts on a blown tyre. "Bob? You need a hand?"

Bob let the car fall back onto the ground and warily watched the approaching man, his eyebrows knitting together when he saw who it was. "Logan." He nodded stiffly, coming to stand in front of his daughter, a worried cast to his stare. "What brings you around these parts?"

"Could ask you the same thing." Logan let his eyes rove across the station wagon, noting there was another person in the car. "Road trip with the kids?"

In the SUV, Jubilee could feel the tenseness in the air as she listened through Logan's open door. "Boys, we do not want all out warfare on the I-24." She sing-songed to herself, using the knob on the inside of the car to slowly tilt the wing mirror so she could see better.

"You could say that." Bob murmured, flexing his fingers; the muscles in his arms bunching as he prepared for a fight. "And you?"

"A little business down south…" Logan stared at them silently for another few minutes and finally sighed; his senses weren't telling him anything wrong, and the lines around the normally jovial man's eyes were worrying. "I'm not looking for trouble, Bob. What's happened?"

Bob finally sighed and patted Violet on the shoulder, quietly telling her to turn off the shield Logan hadn't realised surrounded them. "I don't know what's happened, Logan. I don't understand…" He screwed his eyes shut as Violet looked at him worriedly. "Everything was fine…we had Lucius Best – you remember him? Frozone? Yeah, well he and his wife Honey were over for dinner…the power went out after we'd finished eating…next thing we knew, Lucius had…he'd iced Honey up…" Bob shook his head as if he didn't believe what he'd seen, his eyes welling up with tears as Violet wrapped her arms around herself protectively. "Not in the 'it'll melt and you'll be fine' way like he usually does…it was like…" He shook his head again. "He pushed her over and she just…she shattered; and he started laughing like it was the funniest thing that ever happened. Then all hell broke loose. Jack Jack – he's my youngest, he tried to set fire to Vi…and then Helen..." He stopped again and swallowed convulsively. "Logan, I don't know what the hell is going on. My wife tried to kill me…us! And then-"

"They disappeared into the shadows?" Logan growled angrily; he'd liked Helen, and he'd liked Frozone.

Violet nodded, and a blonde teenager that had to be Bob's son got out of the car, his head down but not far enough that Logan couldn't see the bruises around his face and neck, or the crisp white bandages around his hands. "They just vanished…but the house was burning down around our ears and we couldn't stay there any more. We managed to get to the car and then just drove. I don't know where we're going. I don't even think dad does."

Bob managed a half smile at the sarcastic tone and slung his arm around her shoulders, hugging her tight. "We'll just keep on the move, I guess, until we find out what's going on."

Logan nodded slowly. "Gimmie a few minutes, ok? I think I need to talk to the others about this."

Bob shrugged and went back to trying to change the wheel while Vi watched Logan go back to the car, stopping to talk to someone in the passenger seat.

"Dad?"

"I trust him with my life, Vi. I know-" He cut her off before she had the chance to say anything. "Right now, all we have is trust, and we're sitting on the side of the road with nothing but our names and a beat up car. We need them."

Violet shrugged and went back to staring at Logan.

Jubilee craned her neck upwards as Logan appeared at the window. "What's up?"

"'Nuther victim of the Shadow Man. Gimmie yer cellphone, kid. Gotta talk to Summers for a minute."

"Should I go mingle?" she asked as she rooted in her bag and finally handed over the slim phone.

"Stay put. I trust 'em as much as I trust Beast…but right now-"

"You don't trust Beast or anybody all that much. Gotcha."

Logan nodded and began to dial the number for the Mansion, walking a few steps away from the car. After a few minutes, she could clearly hear Logan hissing into the phone, and wondered what he'd done to piss Scott off this time. Finally, he snapped the phone closed and threw it in the window at her.

"Talked to Cyke. He said you can come and stay for as long as you need…or want."

Bob nodded carefully, setting the car back down onto its axel, seeming to relax slightly. "No problems?"

Logan shook his head, glancing back at the car with an odd expression on his face. "No problems, but we've got some things to talk over before you agree. Ties in with what happened with Vectress an' Helen."

XXXxxxXXX

Twenty miles down the road, and several buckets of fries later, Bob was staring at the wooden top of the picnic table with a worried expression. Violet and her brother Dashal were openly gaping at Logan who in turn, was staring over at their car where Jubilee had opted to sleep instead of getting out to eat.

"Who's the kid?" Bob asked, breaking the silence, and choosing to change the subject to a lighter one.

"A friend." Logan replied shortly, snagging the empty baskets and stacking them. It was clear he wasn't going to expand on that any time soon, and Bob sighed, stretching slightly – not relishing the thought of getting back behind the wheel.

"So, how do you and dad know each other?" To everyone's surprise, it was Dash that asked the question; the teen hadn't spoken since they'd fled the attack, and he met Logan's stare with one of his own.

"Logan's pulled my butt out of the fire on more than one occasion." Bob murmured dryly. "And your mother's once or twice…before we met."

"And I seem to remember an occasion when your father decided to wade into a collapsing building to drag me out of the flames after I'd taken a clip of bullets in the chest and had half a room fall on me." Logan grunted, piling the remnants of their meal onto a tray. "Him and me, we go way back."

They both murmured 'Good times', and laughed softly; the laughter releasing something in Bob's chest that had been tightening every second that passed not knowing why his wife and son had turned on them.

As they stood, Logan fired the tray into the nearest trash can. "Put it this way; in the superhero business, if you've been around long enough; chances are you've met pretty much everyone that's been around as long as you have."

Bob tossed the keys to Violet and slid into the passenger seat beside Logan, who looked at him with a question in his eyes.

"What haven't you told us?" The gargantuan Super asked quietly.

Logan tried to hide a knowing smile and shook his head. "Nuthin', Bob. You know as much as we do now…I know it was short, but there's really not much to say unless you want a blow by blow account of each fight – most of which I wasn't even there to see."

Bob snorted and shook his head, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder. "And what have you got in the boxes in the back, then?"

Logan grimaced at the question and shifted uncomfortably. "We don't know yet; and ok, maybe I am keeping somethin' from you, but I can't say until I've told Chuck and the others…they need to know the full story…it's not my choice."

Bob turned his eyes back to the road, his mouth firming. "Is that what you and Cyclops were arguing about on the phone?"

He wasn't prepared for the sharp laugh, and in the back seat Jubilee started fitfully before falling asleep again. "Nah, nuthin' to do with that. Kid did some undercover work she told nobody about. I may have snuck her out of the Mansion before they got to punish her for it…"

"May have?" Bob smiled, and Logan started to chuckle.

"Kid needed a break, I needed a co-driver. Half the things that've happened recently; she's been in the middle of it…getting attacked by her friends…she's hit her head so many times that even I'm not sure how she's still standing."

Bob nodded grudgingly and looked over his shoulder again at the sleeping girl on the back seat. "And who is your 'friend' exactly?"

Logan's eyes flicked up to the rear view mirror which was angled so he could see her and the boxes, and he sighed. "My friend back there, she's pulled my ass out of the fire more times than you and Helen combined, Bob. More times than I care to count…more times than I can count, truth be told. She's a good kid; a good partner and a good person to have at your back in a fight."

In the car behind them, Violet drove carefully, keeping her eyes on the barely visible shape of her fathers head. Dash chewed thoughtfully at his lower lip. "They don't seem too bad…" He hazarded after a long silence, and Violet shrugged.

"I don't think we can make a decision on that just yet, Dash. We've met one of 'em, and I saw him tell the other one not to get out of the car."

"I'm guessing she's just a kid. I could kind of see her in the side mirror. She's really small. He was probably just afraid to get her involved in something."

Violet grunted, and Dash sighed, going back to staring out the window. It was a long, silent drive, and when Bob was finally caught up on all the news and gossip he could handle, they pulled over and he went back to their own car.

Logan used the stop to wake up a very grumpy teenager, who, while she had slept, had not quite managed to catch up with the amount of sleep she needed to function in polite company. Over the next couple of hours, she and Logan swapped places as the sun went down. As the sun began to rise, she took over once more, smiling at the snores that came from the back seat. The drive after she took over was long and quiet, and ended abruptly as half a grain silo slammed into the road in front of the car.

Bob slammed on the breaks and swerved to avoid both the car and the silo that had dropped from the sky, and when the car finally came to a stop in the ditch at the side of the road, all he could hear was frantic breathing from the back seat, and after a couple of seconds loud cursing from the other vehicle pierced the air.

A quick look around as the dust settled showed that Vi had erected a force field around the car automatically, and she dropped it with a sigh when she realised they were all in one piece. The SUV, however, was another matter.

Climbing out, he saw that the car had ploughed straight into the silo and the windscreen was shattered. The reason for the windscreen was lying on the concertinaed hood; spouting curses as his twisted limbs slowly popped back into place. Dash ran to the car, and ignoring the pain in his hands, gripped the twisted metal of the drivers side door and pulled it away from the car to reveal Jubilee sitting stock still, gripping the steering wheel white-knuckled as she blinked rapidly.

"The air bag didn't go off…" She murmured, still holding on to the steering wheel. Dash nodded and put his hand on her shoulder to steady her as she wavered slightly. Shaking her head, she undid her seatbelt and got out of the car, keeping her eyes on the silo. "Logan are you ok?"

"Don't ask me flaming stupid questions!" Logan roared as he got onto his knees, wincing as his neck cracked back into place. "Goddamnit, Jubilee how can you miss something that goddamned big sitting in the middle of the goddamned road!"

Bob opened his mouth to explain what had happened, but Jubilee got there first, the initial shock from the accident burning away to pure, unadulterated anger. "Well, Logan, it is kind of hard to miss something that lands three feet in front of the bumper. So my advice to you is that next time, put on your goddamned seatbelt and shut the fuck up!"

A tense silence fell as she turned her back on him and looked across the field at the side of the road. In the distance, a plume of smoke rose up high, and Violet draped her jacket around the girls shaking shoulders, trying to work out how old she was, realising she was probably older than Dash had thought.

"Looks like some kind of a fight…" Violet murmured, and Jubilee nodded, her fingers fastening tightly on the fabric.

"That looks like Cyke's optic blasts…and that's Storm…and maybe…I don't know who she's fighting." She pointed out the white shape against the blue sky and winced as something in the distance erupted in a pillar of flame. Behind her, Logan half-fell from the hood of the car and nodded in agreement, holding his side.

"Hey Bob, you and the kids up for some fun?"

XXXxxxXXX

Scott hurriedly ducked a burning beam as it hurtled over his head and rolled out of the way behind an overturned tractor, trying to catch his breath. All around him were burning buildings, fields and battling mutants; a scant handful of which he could recognise. There were others that were vaguely familiar as they battled against Rogue and Sam, while Jean was having an interesting experience with the rubber-limbed Helen Parr. Bobby was practically playing a game of hide and seek with Frozone as they danced around each other on ice-slides; while a little six year old boy was running around the place setting fire to whatever he could get his hands on. This was shaping up to be a bad, bad mission.

Just as he was about to go for the tall blonde that was aiming at his wife's back, a blur passed by him and the blonde was suddenly lying on the ground crying out in pain. The blur stopped at the edge of the farmyard, and Scott blinked, realising it was a kid in his late teens holding a short plank of wood in bandaged hands.

"This a private party or can anybody join in?" Bob bellowed as he trotted into the farmyard, and Scott grinned thankfully.

"Help yourself, Bob! The more the merrier!"

Bob nodded, not taking his eyes off Helen as he broke into a run, tackling her to the ground. Behind him, Vi's, eyes narrowed as she spotted the burning six year old, and suddenly her baby brother was surrounded by a force field which was then levitated up into the air, effectively confining him and taking him out of the fight.

"Hey, nice work Vi!" Dash called out, and she gave him a thumbs up before dropping Blazestone with a roundhouse kick. Behind them Scott heard a feral roar and his grin turned sly as Logan entered the fray with all claws out, already looking worse for wear. Realising that the numbers had now turned more to their advantage, he singled out the stranger dressed in black and launched himself at him, feeling a lot more confident in the outcome.

Holding Tigra in a headlock, Remy grinned as he heard a familiar voice shout out "Not the Nose! Not the Nose!" and looking over his shoulder, he realised that they now had extra help as Jubilee kicked McNally in the groin and punched him between the eyes, dropping him like a stone as she held her nose with her hand. "Why the hell is it always my _nose_!" She kicked him again for good measure and waved at Remy.

"Welcome to the fun, Petite!" he called out as Tigra struggled futilely in his arms. "Have a good trip?"

Jubilee didn't answer as her next opponent rushed at her and she jumped out of the way, cursing as he disappeared into a shadow. Holding herself warily, she turned in a slow circle, wondering where he'd come out of. Turning back to the shadow, her eyes narrowed as she saw movement, and a cut-off curse left her lips as The Thing exited the shadow, running straight into her, knocking her to the ground.

"Cyke, they're bringing out the big guns!" Logan bellowed, seeing Ben Grim toss Paige aside like a rag doll as she came to her friend's aid. Jubilee helped Paige to her feet, both of them wincing as they straightened, and the younger girl shook her head as Freakshow followed Ben's entrance.

"Over my dead body…" She grumbled moodily, and took up a fighting stance, her fists blazing white. "See how you like this!"

It was the same strange feeling as had come over her the day Angelo had turned, and this time she allowed it to fill her, revelling in the power that filled her and begged to be released. Before anyone could say a word, she'd unleashed it at The Thing, the force throwing him back into the shadow he'd come from. She chose McNally as her second victim as he staggered away from a powerful blow from Paige's iron fist, and after hitting him twice, he ran for the shadows, shielding his head with his arms. By the time she had hit two others with the fiercely burning white light, Freakshow had taken up residence in the cornfield that surrounded the Farmhouse and was transforming into a creature from nightmares.

"Hey, Kevin, get a load of this!" She called out loudly and threw everything she could at the mutant rapidly morphing into a sixty-foot tall monster. Vi let go of her shield around Jack-Jack as a blast of fire left the monsters mouth, and she quickly erected one around Jubilee, wincing as it was engulfed in flames. When the fire died out, she ran towards her, dropping the shield to allow Jubilee to retaliate, and the two of them stood side by side alternating between the shields and blasting Freakshow as if they'd rehearsed the moves before. Each blast of Plasma made the monster scream as it tried various shapes and sizes, and before long, he had shrunk down and disappeared into the shadow of a rabbit hole.

Turning to take on their next opponent, they watched as the rest of the Taken ran for the nearest shadows, some being helped by the other Taken. An eerie silence fell on the battle ground as they stood and took stock of the situation, looking around to make sure that all of their attackers had vanished.

"Logan…?" Jean called out as the Canadian unzipped his jacket and held two pieces of skin together so that his already taxed healing factor could knit them back into one piece. Her face went pale and she faltered slightly at the sight before closing her eyes to get rid of the image from her mind. "How did you know we were here?"

"Kind of hard to miss you guys…" Logan grumbled, letting his jacket fall back into place as the last of the injuries from the crash healed themselves.

"Especially when you run into a silo that drops out of the sky." Jubilee added as Paige draped an arm around her shoulders tiredly as they joined the others. "Whose bright idea was that?"

Rogue cleared her throat nervously and took to the sky, heading towards the road, and Logan rolled his eyes, knowing full well who had decided to use the silo as a weapon. "What's going on here?"

Scott sighed and looked at the still burning farmhouse. "Tradewind was sheltering Blazestone and Tigra…I guess they were Turned. We got a call a few hours ago from him…he was hiding in the cornfield while they were looking for him. We got here just before the Farmhouse went up in flames. Then more Taken came out of the shadows."

"They burned my home…" Tradewind cried softly, staring at the still smouldering fields of corn. "The little bastard set fire to my home! I didn't want to be a part of this any more! This isn't me! I have…I had a life. I'd given up this crap a long time ago." Tears filled his eyes as he looked over what had once been a thriving farm. "I took them in because they were friends…they said they were being chased by something…you don't turn away friends…"

He sounded lost, and Bob put his hand on his old friends shoulder. "I'm sorry, Ed…I'm so sorry…I know what it's like…"

"How could you!" Tradewind's eyes suddenly flashed angrily, and he knocked away the comforting hand.

"I just lost my wife, my son and my home; and nearly lost my other two kids as well, Ed. You aren't the only one being affected by this." Bob called out tiredly as the former Super stalked away from him. "I watched Honey Best shatter into a thousand pieces as Lucius froze her and pushed her over. I watched my youngest son set fire to his brother. I watched my wife try to drown her daughter…her first born! We're all getting hurt by this." He began to walk after him, his hand outstretched as Tradewind stopped, his shoulders hunching over. "You can rebuild. When this is over, you can rebuild. I'll help you…we'll help you."

"I didn't want to be a part of this any more…" Tradewind's rough whisper could barely be heard. "I went back once; there was this guy…he wanted me to try stop a machine that was terrorizing an island. God help me, I tried, and I barely got out with my life. I'm getting too old for this…I can't do this alone anymore…"

Seeing Scott's guarded look, Dash dropped the stick he'd been holding and came to stand beside him. "He lost Paulie about four years ago. His partner." He shrugged awkwardly and Scott nodded, thankful for the information.

"Edward…you won't be- You _aren't_ alone. Look around you…you've still got friends." He called out, his voice filled with sincerity. "Come back to the mansion; Apogee and Everseer are already there; they arrived last night. And I doubt they will be the last. We have plenty of room, Ed. And even if we didn't, you'd still be more than welcome. Even if you don't want to fight."

"That should be fun." Violet murmured as an aside to Jubilee. "Everseer has OCD – he's a neat freak. Washing the hands fifty times…the whole nine yards. And Apogee isn't exactly the cleanest person in the world, y'know?"

Jubilee smiled, and as the adults continued to try to persuade Tradewind to come back to the Mansion, she, Violet, Dash, Paige and Monet sat down on a fallen tree. "Guys, this is Violet and Dashal Parr. They're coming to join the X-Men for a while." Introductions began all round, and Paige wrapped her arm around Jubilee again, feeling the younger girl trembling from the adrenalin that still ran through her.

"Hope you have room on the jet." Jubilee muttered, hanging her head tiredly. "'Cause the SUV is toast, and I'm pretty sure that Station Wagons are supposed to have front wheels."


	13. Big Bada Boom

_In Perth, Australia, a man woke to find his wife was gone; the only evidence that she'd gone to bed with him was the dimpled pillow and the fading scent of her perfume._

_After a spectacular lightning storm the previous night, a tiny village in the Highlands of Scotland woke to find that the local manor house was no longer there; only the foundations remained. No one that had lived there was ever seen again._

_In Baltimore, police surrounding a drug den burst in to find its inhabitants quite literally frozen in place, their faces showing the terror of their last moments. They were all facing one point in the room, a spot that was strangely empty._

_In Dublin, Ireland, the local police arrested a man for the disappearance of his 19 year old daughter. After intensive investigation, they had to let him go…all evidence pointed to her having simply vanished from the face of the earth._

_And all across the world these events were replayed as one by one, souls were called home to the Shadow…_

XXXxxxXXX

Charles stared at the array of artefacts laid out on the table in front of them, his long, delicate fingers resting on the top of the small pile of journals. Beside him, Heather was standing with her arms tightly folded in front of her chest, a stubborn look on her face as she shook her head vehemently. "No."

"Please…" Magneto pleaded quietly. "If anything odd happens, then we'll take it out of your hands." He smiled gently and held a shard of pottery to her as she violently shook her head again.

"I always wanted to take up archaeology, Eric, but there was a reason why I majored in English instead. It's just too weird to be seeing things from hundreds of years ago; it's bad enough seeing things in the here and now, let alone the future or things that my own mum and gran and great gran said and did…"

In a chair by the door, Jubilee inspected her fingernails, waiting until they were ready to deal with her. The second they'd gotten off the jet, she'd found out that Logan hadn't been very truthful about her involvement in the 'mission'. He'd scurried off to take a shower, leaving her to suffer the consequences of two unsanctioned trips. And the second she was out of the room, he was a dead man.

Heather looked up sharply when a chicken noise filled the room, and Jubilee looked up at her over the rims of her sunglasses. "And I paraphrase; 'you already know what you gotta do'. People died for this…. Surely you can handle a couple of weird-assed visions?"

Glowering, Heather yanked off a glove and let her fingertips graze the nearest fragment of pottery. After a few seconds she moved on to the next piece, drawing back with a loud yelp as if she were burned. "Hot; cooking pot." She muttered before moving on. She finally dropped the last piece onto the table and shrugged. "Fire, cooking, drinking…some pretty women…bright material; something like a bad 70's porn movie that will be forever burned into my mind...Absolutely nothing of note from any of it. No boogie men."

Jubilee looked crestfallen, and Charles sighed. "That's a pity. However it was still a worthwhile idea, Jubilee. You were right to bring them here. I will contact Mrs. DeNare and arrange for them to be shipped back to her. This was the entire collection?"

Jubilee shook her head as she picked up a piece of bubble wrap and began to pack the artefacts away again. "Only a big gold headpiece was left. I don't think she wanted to let us have it. It was way too valuable for us to be carting around the country in the first place. I don't know if it was even from the temple." She shrugged again and gestured to the journals. "Hey, who knows; we might get something from them. The first one gave a lot of info. Maybe there's more in the others?"

"Kitty and I will look through them." Charles agreed as Heather put back on her gloves and made for the door. As soon as she and Magneto had left, the leader of the X-Men sat down in a chair and stared at her.

"Before you start; Logan didn't tell me I wasn't supposed to go on the mission. He turned up and ok, I might have assumed but…" She opened and closed her mouth a few times and groaned, hanging her head. "Ok, let me have it; what's the punishment?"

"No punishment for going to New Orleans." Charles smiled fondly at her. "I understand what happened, Jubilee, and I will speak to Logan regarding it. However, there is still the matter of the Helicarrier to deal with."

XXXxxxXXX

At 6am the following morning, Violet found herself standing in the middle of a room with a strange looking grid set into the floor, walls and ceiling. High up above, she could see a large observation window, and Dash waved hesitantly at her with his bandaged hand; glad for once that he was injured. This time at least, Violet could take the first step.

The door behind her hissed open, and she turned to see the man she'd been introduced to as Remy LeBeau aka Gambit, slunk inside the room dressed in the same coloured training uniform as she'd been given when she was roughly woken up at 5am by her father. Bob was standing up in the control room, talking quietly with the big blue doctor that had whisked Dash off for medical treatment on their arrival the night before.

"Hi." Violet raised her hand hesitantly, and was rewarded by a 100 watt smile as the sexy Cajun turned his attention to her.

"Bonjour, mademoiselle." He swept his arm around as he bowed, and she found herself trying to stifle a giggle.

"Laugh all you want. Give it ten minutes and you won't be able to laugh." A sullen voice announced from the doorway, and Jubilee trudged in, zipping her red and black leather uniform up to her neck. "I thought I'd done my 6am quota for the year?" She griped, pulling at the neck.

"Cyclops is pretty sure you had at least 3 sessions left." Bobby replied dryly through the microphone system, leaning over the console to peer down at her, his finger on the transmit button. "And since he's been up all night, I didn't have the heart to remind him."

Jubilee rolled her eyes and Remy caught the grumbled 'He's been up all night – what the hell does he think I've been doing the past…" She trailed off under Remy's intense red and black stare and sighed dejectedly. "C'mon, lets get this crap over with so I can get on with the rest of my 'house arrest'."

"Grounded?"

"Until further notice…can't go past the tree line. Cell phone, wallet and iPod confiscated…" She grumbled, beginning to stretch. Up in the control room, Bobby winced in sympathy and began to construct an easy simulation.

Twenty minutes later, Violet could only agree with what Jubilee had told her. The simulation that Bobby had conjured was completely tame; a bare room with padded mats for falling on. All the time that Remy was delighting in throwing her onto them in hand to hand combat, Jubilee was in a corner, stretching.

Finally, Violet had had enough. "How come I get thrown around and beaten up when she gets to sit in the corner?!" She protested, slapping her hands against the surface of the mat that had graciously cushioned her fall.

"Because once you are done, I get to go." Jubilee replied dryly, noting that the 20 year old sounded a lot more like a petulant child than one of her 'elders and betters'. "And believe me, my go will be much more fun than yours."

Violet's eyes narrowed, but she accepted Remy's outstretched arm to help her up. She didn't get a chance to see Jubilee cringe as a split second later, Remy sent her flying again, right onto another mat.

Up in the control room, Bob sighed and covered his face with his hand. "How is this constructive?" He asked Hank resignedly, and the Doctor shrugged.

"We now know that she is a passive fighter, not an aggressive one…and she does not learn immediately from her mistakes. We will probably pair her with Robert here, or Paige during training. They are both very tolerant instructors, and will take their time with her to make sure she learns to react properly to an attack. I believe she is too reliant on her powers when fighting."

"That's why you blocked their powers going in?" Dash asked curiously, and Beast nodded.

"Exactly, young Mr. Parr. And we will do the same with you once your hands have healed. A day or two longer."

Bobby smirked and created a chair for Violet to sit on as Jubilee shook out her limbs and cracked her neck. "Bring it on, Cajun."

Later, Violet would describe Remy's answering smile as eager, sly, conniving, and worryingly excited. He produced a Bo-staff out of what seemed to be mid-air and the fight began.

Up in the control room, Bob watched intently as the little kid that they'd met the day before flipped and turned with ease, missing most of the blows Le Beau was throwing at her and landing a few of her own. Finally, Bobby checked his watch and called a halt to the training session just as Jean, Rogue and Warren walked in, blinking sleepily.

Violet shot to her feet as Bobby warned her that all simulations were about to turn off and her chair was about to disappear. Jubilee danced out of reach of Remy's bo-staff, still wary of any unannounced attacks as a shiver passed through her signifying that the blocks on their powers were turned off . "That was fun, Remy; whaddya say we do this again some time…at a less unsociable hour?"

Remy grinned again, twirling his staff between his fingers. "Petite…Remy not been to bed yet. This is a sociable hour for me."

Silence met his declaration, and Jubilee turned her back on him to face Violet. "I really hate him sometimes…" She wondered why Violet's eyes widened, and when she turned to look at what the Super was staring at, she found Remy holding his bo-staff as if he'd been about to sweep the legs out from under her. He was frozen in place; and the reason for his freeze were bobbing around his head, all three plasma orbs crackling dangerously with a white hot heat.

"Petite…you think you can turn that off now? Remy'll be good…" He practically whimpered, and Jubilee shook her head.

"I don't think that was me…." she reached out and touched one of the orbs, her forehead furrowing when she felt the familiar signature of her paffs. It streamed back into her hand and she winced, feeling the power streak up her arm before dissipating into her body.

A quick glance up at the observation room showed Hank's jaw was slack and his paws were pressed against the glass.

"Petite, it was you." Remy straightened and with a quick flick of his wrist, the bo-staff folded back in on itself and was neatly slid into the sleeve of his uniform. "You never done that before?"

Jubilee shook her head mutely, rubbing her arm where the paff had disappeared. "Never…not that I can remember at any rate…"

There came a feedback whine as the microphone was turned on, and Jubilee's shoulders slumped as Hank's voice rang through the large room. "Jubilation, my lab; now!"

"Catch you later." Jubilee sighed, patting Violet on the shoulder as she trudged towards the door. Remy frowned as her grumbled monologue reached his ears as she disappeared out the door. He turned to look up at the control room, but only saw Bobby, and the Ice Mutant shrugged descriptively. He didn't know what was going on either.

Nodding to Violet, he hurried out the door, hoping to catch up with them before they met. He got there in time to see Jubilee press the palms of her hands against her forehead as Beast stared at her stonily.

"I told you!" She protested as he opened his mouth to protest. "I did tell you about this. I told you my powers were going a little bit hinky. So you don't get to chew me out this time. We got home at ten pm last night. It's now…five past seven in the morning. We all needed to sleep. Were you going to test me in the middle of the night? No! And then I get dragged out of my bed at some ungodly hour and told I'm doing a training session – couldn't get a word in edge-wise at that point 'cos ye were all 'oooh, let's see what the new kids can do'. Ok, so get off my back. What's that for?"

Hank held up a syringe. "It might shut you up." He growled, and Remy hid a smirk as Jubilee recoiled from it in horror. "Oh, calm down, I would never sedate you just to stop you from talking. I wish to have a blood and DNA sample so that I can see how much your powers seem to be evolving. And don't look at me like that, young lady, I've done this to you before; I'll do it to you again."

Remy watched as she unzipped the top of her uniform and stuck her arm out with attitude. "May I stay?" He asked quietly, and Hank grunted, keeping his eyes on the vial between his fingers. Jubilee nodded and felt him hop up onto the table beside her. "Were you really gonna blow Remy up?" He chided gently, giving her a nudge after Hank drew out the needle with a frown.

"Of course not, Remy. I don't know what happened. I guess I just...reacted."

"You reacted to somethin' you no see." He reminded her softly and she sighed, hunching over slightly.

"I know, Remy. I know."

"You think this might have something to do with what happened to Charles an' Jono?" Remy directed his question to Hank, feeling Jubilee go on alert beside him. Hank paused in the middle of placing a drop of blood on a slide and shook his head. "This could just be a natural progression of her powers, Remy. Jubilee, do not worry. When you arrived, we gave you a power class of Delta with the possibility of progressing as far as Alpha class. Bishop always maintained that you would be Alpha, with his knowledge of you in the Future as the last X-Man. Your last tests showed you as Beta. You may just be trundling along the natural course that nature has set out for you. Now, you are dehydrated and I am allowing you to leave in the understanding that you will not be going far if I need to draw further blood in order to work?"

This elicited a growl from Jubilee and she stalked out of the room without saying another word. "Was it something I said?"

"Petite's been grounded." Remy smirked as he hopped off the table, undoing the top of his uniform as he sauntered off towards the showers. "She no be going anywhere."

XXXxxxXXX

When Jubilee walked into the female shower rooms, she realised that she and Violet were on their own. The older girl was standing in her stall with her head pressed against the tiles, her eyes tightly closed. Stepping into the stall next to her, Jubilee slung her towel over the rack and looked over the shoulder height wall, a look of worry on her face. She put away her initial thoughts of how the girl had been acting like a child; it was hard to be a new kid on the block, and even harder to deal with a new way of training.

"You did good in there." She murmured, hoping to cheer the girl up.

"I got thrown around the room. How can that be good?" Violet murmured tiredly.

"You didn't get hurt. When Angelo went up against Remy first time out, he got his ass handed to him on a plate. Remy tied him in knots; literally. Ange has stretchy skin."

Violet opened her eyes and swivelled her head around so she was looking at Jubilee. "Isn't he…"

"Taken? Yeah. I was pretty pissed about that. Thought we'd lost him for good. But after hearing what happened when Vectress died; I have hope. I hope we'll get them back. And that includes your mom, by the way. I'm sorry about that."

Violet sighed and reached for the shampoo, starting to wash her hair. "This is going to get worse before it gets better; isn't it?"

Jubilee grimaced at the loaded question. "I hate to admit it, but yeah. I think it is. I don't know what the oldies think, but…I just have to hope that we can get everybody back.. and keep an eye on everyone we know. I know you probably don't need to be told this, but keep an eye out for anything strange…stranger than normal…strange behaviour in people…uh…" She trailed off, licking her lips. "That's gonna be so hard for you. There's a bunch of people living here that are pretty strange on the best of days…" She shrugged half-heartedly and started to wash her own hair.

"Where're you from?" Vi asked a few minutes later, breaking the easy silence that had fallen.

"LA. Malibu, actually. Came here when I was thirteen." Jubilee kept it short and sweet, grabbing her towel and hurrying out onto the cold tiles to dress quickly. "You?"

Violet laughed. "God, I don't know where to start. Until I was about fourteen we moved pretty frequently; dad kept getting caught doing stuff when he wasn't supposed to be. We moved one more time after our house got smushed by the jet owned by a guy that had wanted to be dad's side-kick when he was a kid and then grew up to be a super-bad arch villain type guy. Guess we have to find a new home again…" She trailed off sadly, pulling on a sock.

"Well, there's no better place to stay while you're looking for one." Jubilee announced brightly, giving her a friendly smile. "If you look past the freaks and geeks that live here…we've got a pool, tennis courts…danger room…a couple of half-decent cooks. Fresh sheets…"

Violet found herself smiling back at her and slipped on her shoes, feeling marginally better about the last hour of her life. "Thanks Jubilee."

"Any time. Now, whaddya say we get some food; you're on your own after that 'cos I'm gunna go catch some more sleep after…I'm well behind on my quota of z's."

XXXxxxXXX

"Stop her!" Hank called out as Jubilee darted past Charles into the elevator.

"I'm _not_ giving any more blood!" She called out as the doors closed, and Charles looked from Hank's angry face to the now closed doors.

"Henry?"

"I can't get an accurate reading." Hank fumed quietly. "Would you please ask everyone if they see her to drag her back here kicking and screaming if necessary."

Charles looked puzzled but did as he was asked. "Henry?"

"Her powers are expanding and I do not know how much. I need a proper blood sample and she is still too dehydrated for me to draw more." His eyes narrowed darkly as he stared at the closed elevator doors.

Charles tried hard not to smile, but Hank easily caught it. "It's not funny, Charles. She nearly blew Remy up this morning without knowing it. I need to know if it is a natural progression or if it is stemming from what happened in that Temple."

His words hung in the silence and Charles nodded slowly. "I understand…do you believe it is?" He sounded worried and Hank sighed, leading the way back into his Lab.

"I don't know. Her powers are unusual. Bishop's memories of her from the future can give some indications on how they will progress but…I don't know. I simply just do not know."

Charles nodded, looking up as Jubilee's voice rose up in anger out in the corridor and after a moment, Mr. Incredible sauntered in with her slung over his shoulder. "I understand you were looking for this one?" He asked blithely, setting her down on her feet in front of Hank.

Hank nodded with a grimaced smile, grabbing her arm before she had a chance to run again. "Thank you Robert. Jubilee; Sit! Stay! Good girl."

Charles smirked and walked away with Bob. "Thank you. She has an understandable dislike of being repeatedly jabbed with needles. Henry always finds it quite impossible to draw blood from her. If she is any way dehydrated, it is like getting water from a stone."

Bob fell into step beside him, folding his hands behind his back. "Her powers are expanding? Is that normal for her age?"

"It seems so. Powers can mutate at any time. In fact, I am on my way to speak with our resident expert on Jubilations powers. Have you seen our main Control Room?"

Bob frowned, and found his frown growing when Charles led the way into a large room covered with screens. Bishop was sitting in front of a bank of them, arms firmly crossed in front of his massive barrel chest as he stared at the security footage.

"Bishop, I wish to speak to you about Jubilation." Charles began quietly, drawing up a chair and indicating to Bob to do the same. "A little investigation if you will; what were her powers like when you knew her?"

Bishop thought for a moment and then began to call something up on the monitor in front of them. "Like this." He sat back and played the last few moments of the danger room session. "And like this." Again, his fingers danced over the keys, calling up the initial attack on the mansion just after Angelo turned. Bob paled when he saw Creed's flesh burn away like melted butter.

"Oh my god…" He trailed off, covering his mouth with his hand. "That's sick…"

"He was going to kill her." Bishop advised him gravely. "If it had been me in her place, I would have boiled his brains in his skull."

"So this is natural?" Charles asked seriously, and Bishop shrugged.

"It might be. I do not know at what age she truly came into her powers. Why?"

Charles shook his head, standing back up. "A question has arisen on the reason why her powers are developing now of all times."

Bishop stared at him warily. "You think it is the Shadow?"

Charles quickly disagreed. "No, no! Perhaps the same force that altered Jonothan and myself has caused her powers to accelerate. It was odd that she was in no way altered by the events. This, however, may explain more than it does not. Perhaps her powers have been accelerated."

Bishop nodded grudgingly. "Like I said; I don't know when she came into her full powers. I wasn't exactly close to her. I just knew her by rumour…and the one or two times she and her crew fought with mine. She was a formidable leader, however. One to be greatly reckoned with. I displeased her…once. She was not lenient."

Despite his serious words, a half-smile twitched at his lips and Bob shook his head. He'd only ever heard of the time-travelling mutant from gossip; he knew Bishop was from a dystopian future that had hopefully been prevented by his subsequent actions in the current present.

"Ok, now you're presenting me with the vision of a complete psychopath…tell me again why you want her to show Violet and Dash how the X-Base operates?" Bob sounded dejected, and the stoic black man actually laughed.

"She was no psychopath. She was a battle-hardened woman who had outlived all that you see around you now. She was the last of those to truly carry the X for Xavier on her chest. When I met her in this timeline, I was like you. I did not understand how such an…annoying child could ever turn into the woman I knew."

"What changed your mind?" Bob asked eagerly. Bishop smiled a half-smile.

"I was here in the middle of the night several months after I arrived. The child overrode all of the safeties in the Danger Room and went in alone. I did not raise an alert as I could override any programme from here. I watched her fight the Hand Ninja's on her own. She…kicked their asses. When she was finished, she turned to the camera and gave me a two-fingered salute. That was when I saw a glimpse of the woman I had met. She may not have to turn into the woman I knew. But I will be proud to know the woman she will now grow into. No matter what." He smiled softly and turned back to the monitors, clearing what he had called up and bringing back up the security feeds, signifying that their conversation was ended.

Once out in the halls, Bob stopped Charles in his tracks. "Why did you bring me to talk to him? You have to have known all that before now…"

Charles nodded. "I did. But I do not need to purposely read your mind, Robert, to know what you are thinking. Every time you meet her, you broadcast your thoughts. She intrigues you."

"It's not that…I guess it's her relationship with Logan. I knew him a long time ago; he's not the same man he was back then."

"Everyone changes. And some people change others. Jubilee brings out the best in some…and the worst in others." His smile grew. "If you are so concerned, perhaps you should speak with Logan. After all, he is the one who can tell you the most."

XXXxxxXXX

Violet snuggled down beside Dash in the Den, exhausted by another training session with Paige and a comprehensive tour of the Mansion by Jubilee. It was dark outside, and a lot of the mansion inhabitants seemed to have favoured company for the night. Paige assured her that wasn't normal; she explained that the 'kids' always seemed to spend at least some of the evening together; a leftover from their former school days, and sometimes some of the older X-Men would join them, but tonight it seemed, was a special night. Nobody wanted to be alone.

Despite being night time, the heat of the day still lingered, and all the windows and the doors to the outside were wide open, covered by curtains. When the movie they had finally agreed to watch ended, Jono stretched with a mighty yawn and sighed softly.

Outside, a lone figure sat on a bench, cigar in hand, watching the smoke drift up into the darkness. Bob wasn't surprised to find Logan sitting on his own in the darkness; though the gruff mutant seemed to be more sociable now than he'd ever seen him before. The Canadian glanced up when a slab of beer appeared on the bench beside him, and Bob followed suit, sitting down gingerly so his weight didn't offset the delicate looking bench.

"So..." Bob looked at him pointedly. "There's nobody here but us, Logan. What's with the kid?"

Logan sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get away with silence. He and Bob went back a long way; and Bob was a good guy. He was one 'superhero' that had never had a hint of malice or darkness in his heart.

Inside the Den, Paige and Everett shared a wide-eyed look but stayed where they were, wondering what Logan would say.

"She's a Friend." He replied quietly, breaking the tab on a can and taking a deep sip. "A good one."

"Bull." Bob called him on it, and Logan shook his head, draping himself along the back of the bench.

"She's the other half of my soul."

Bob could hear crickets in the long silence that followed, and when he finally trusted himself to look at Logan properly, he found the Canadian staring out into the darkness, a haunted expression on his face. "What? Logan, I'm not understanding you; what's her story? What kind of a hold does she have over you? I've never seen you act this way-"

"Y'know the Reevers?"

"Mutant Cyborgs...yeah?"

"Ever hear of Gateway?"

"The band?"

"No, not a band." Logan laughed softly. "Gateway is a mutant. A little Aboriginal bastard that can create portals to different places – countries if needed. He's even managed it between worlds and dimensions...doesn't talk, just does his own thing without letting you know first."

"Ok..." Bob still sounded confused and Logan sighed again, massaging the back of his neck.

"Jubilee's parents were murdered when she was ten years old. Her mother was a scientist; her old man was a manager for some bank. One of the LA Triad's approached him a couple of times askin' him to launder money. He refused and they made an example of him and his family. They all paid the price. When she eventually got out of hospital, she ended up in Foster Care; only they didn't take too much care of her. When it all got too much, she ended up on the streets. I guess she got sick of the beatings." He shrugged slightly, taking a sip from his beer.

"How old was she?"

"She was living on the streets of LA by the time she was eleven."

In the den, all attempts at conversation had stopped as Logan's words came clearly through the open door. The X-men present looked down at their feet, knowing that worse was to come. The others looked at each other sadly, having thought that the teenager had had an easy, indulgent life.

"I take it you found her?" Bob asked quietly in the darkness, shocked when Logan shook his head.

"Nope. She found me. Gateway brought a couple of the ladies to a mall in LA so they could shop. They saved the kid when she was being attacked by the M Squad – bunch of Mutant Killers. She followed 'em when they were done mopping the floor with the bastards. Watched 'em go through Gateway's portal. Then the little git made it bigger and it swallowed her whole. Brought her to our Base in Australia. A base that had been abandoned by the Reevers."

Bob's eyebrow raised, and he cracked open another can, drinking deeply. "So then you-"

"She hid in the tunnels beneath the base for weeks. Nobody knew she was there; not even me. The Reevers came back and attacked the place. Everybody bugged out only I was away, and didn't know what happened. I walked straight into a trap when I came back."

"And then you saved her?"

Logan's bitter laugh sent shivers up Bob's spine. "Hell Bob, I wish I'd been in a position to. They hurt me so bad that I was at the point of no return. Healin' factor'd failed. Heart was failin'... with the heat of the desert…it was the end of the line. They staked me to a cross and left me there to die. And I was dying, Bob. No bones about it, I was closer to the Grim Reaper than I'd ever been before. I was just hanging there, getting ready to make my peace with God, and I saw something move in the shadows. She came further into the light and I saw these two big blue eyes staring at me in horror. I asked...I begged her to help me...I didn't even realise I'd pulled myself off the cross and was bleadin' out." He fell silent again, crushing the can in one sinewy fist. "Then we heard the growling, and there was a lot of bright lights...and I could hear her cryin'. Kid was cryin' 'cos she'd just had to kill those damned Reever Cyborg fuckin' dogs."

"She got you out?"

"Dragged me down into the tunnels. Kept me breathing. Kept me alive. Patched up my wounds as much as she could." He started to laugh softly as the haunted expression leeched away. "God, she had some spunk. When I woke up, I didn't know what had happened; I was disorientated; didn't know up from down. I slashed at her with my claws, and god help her, she beat me over the head with an iron bar. When I woke up the _second_ time, she threatened to shove it where the sun don't shine if I tried anything again.

She stuck with me ever since. We stayed on the run for months to make sure we didn't lead the Reevers back to the X-Men. We went around Asia together. Settled in Madripur for a while...she's fought everything by my side, Bob, including me... She's seen me at my worst and never been afraid of me. Worried, yeah; but never afraid. She's the only thing that got me back when Apocalypse turned me into one of his Horsemen; she was the only thing that broke through the brainwashing. She's been there for me through some of the worst moments of the last few years. I haven't exactly repaid the favour so good. I owe her _everything_, Bob. Even my Humanity. If she hadn't been there...I'd be dead ten times over. I'd have lost my soul to Apocalypse. I might have even been put down like some rabid dog 'cos I lost myself...she brought me back from the rage more times'n I'd like to admit. It took a while to realise...I wouldn't be the _person_ I am today without her. I'd be an animal."

Bob listened intently, picking out the unsaid words. There was a wealth of history between him and Logan; but it didn't seem to even compare to what he and Jubilee had been through. "She's had it hard." He murmured finally, and Logan let his head hang low.

"She's had it hard, and I ain't been there for half of it." He admitted bitterly. "One of the worst moments of my life was at the end of Operation: Zero Tolerance. We sent her to school in Massachusetts with Emma Frost and Sean Cassidy. Let her join Generation X. Thought she'd be safer there. But she wasn't. We were dealin' with our own crap and didn't even notice when that bastard Bastion kidnapped and tortured her for intelligence on us; where the base was, access codes...where we'd be and when we'd get there... We were about to attack the compound to take him and the whole operation down and the wind changed. I caught her scent...just a snatch of it. I left the others and found her out in the desert, beaten to hell and back; just about to be murdered by one of them Sentinels. I nearly lost her an' I never even knew it. And instead of facin' it, I brought her back to Frost and left her there and went to help Kitty instead 'cos she said she needed me after breakin' up with her boyfriend. And Jubes was fine about it. She didn't say a word; didn't say she needed me...or wanted me there. So I left. Dumbest most idiotic, fucked up mistake I've ever made. I couldn't face what she went through so I shut it out of my mind and acted like everything was fine. He tortured her for _three fucking weeks Bob!_ Three Weeks!" Logan was suddenly on his feet, pacing up and down, gesturing with the beer can. "It wasn't fine! It...it..." he suddenly calmed as his shoulders slumped, the beer can hanging by his leg, forgotten. "I only realised how bad it was when she came back for the holidays. She had a nightmare..."

His words hung in the air, and in the Den, Paige wiped moisture away from her eye. She remembered all too well the nightmares Jubilee had had in the aftermath of the attack on the School and her subsequent torture. She met Monet's solemn gaze and curled up in the armchair. "I don't think we should listen anymore." She whispered softly.

"-And then she told me everything." Logan continued, oblivious to their audience for once. "When we were trapped in the Base and trying to escape, she was in the Control Room. Managed to open a door for us so we could escape. We got out...and he took everything out on her. Gave her to one of his Prime Sentinels to slaughter when he was done. Daria I think her name was; she broke her programming. Found her humanity again and helped her to escape the base. Daria got killed trying to draw a Sentinel's attention away from Jubes."

Kitty shook her head as Dash went to close the door again. "Touch it and you die." She hissed softly. She'd never heard any of this. She knew near enough what had happened to the X-Men, but didn't realise Jubilee had been so intricately linked to their survival. Or that she'd been involved in it at all. And the fact that Logan had rushed to her side to comfort her after a petty little break-up instead of being with the 'daughter' that really needed him hit her hard.

"What's a Sentinel?" Violet asked quietly, and Apogee turned to look at her, her face solemn.

"There's two kinds; Regular and Prime. The Prime Sentinels are like the Reevers; Human Cyborgs, but they look normal and act normal until something triggers their programming and then they're their makers forever. The Regular ones are about twenty to twenty-five foot tall machines... they fly, they've got laser blasters...and have instant access to the old Mutant Registry. They're programmed to kill mutants if they can identify them."

Violet shivered and drew her cardigan closer around herself, her thoughts on the little loud-mouth quickly revising themselves.

"What happened then?" Bob asked sadly out on the Patio.

"She got on with it. Like she always does. Had a little break-down that night. She cried, I got angry; she cried some more. I got her wasted and took her down to the Danger Room for a little midnight session with the Safeties off. She blasted a couple of Sentinels to pieces and I took Bastion to pieces. And then, life just went on. I'm not proud of how I treated her, Bob." He added into the empty silence. "But I'm here fer her now."

XXXxxxXXX

The kid in question was down in the sub-basement with Hank, staring at a string of characters on the screen. "Sooooo….?"

"I think, young lady, we need to see exactly what you can do now." He turned on his stool, finding her face right next to his, staring worriedly past the blue fur.

"What does that mean…did you get your answer? Is this normal or is it something somebody did to me?" She rubbed worriedly at the wealth of needle marks on her arm, her lower lip captured between her teeth.

Hank sighed theatrically. "I do not know. I can hazard a guess and say that our initial beliefs about your powers have come to fruition. If you take a look at here and here…" He moved to point out the various pieces in the DNA structure and stopped. "You have no full knowledge of DNA strands, so I will simply reassure you verbally; If what began in the temple caused this, then all it did was to accelerate what was already there. It may have brought you forward several years in the development of your powers. Nothing less, and from what I can see, nothing more. But to find out how much you have developed, we will need to start practical tests."

"So…you want me to start blowing stuff up again?" She asked, threading her arms around his shoulders so she could rest against his massive back. He reached up and patted her arm gently, resting his own head against hers.

"To quote the movie The Fifth Element; Big bada boom."

Jubilee chuckled and then fell silent. "I'm sorry…about earlier…"

Hank snorted theatrically. "Jubilation, I am beginning to think that I must spend half my career chasing you around the halls with a needle."

Jubilee snorted back, giving him a squeeze. "Not half…a fifth, maybe, but not half. I don't know what gets into me. And I'm a stubborn, obstinate mule. I'll never learn. Well, we haven't tested my powers properly in a couple of years...do you want to start now?"

Hank grinned at the eagerness in her voice and pushed back his stool, standing with her arms still linked around his neck. "I am not giving you a piggy back ride to the Danger Room, Jubilee." He cautioned her, and she slid down to the floor, beating him out the door.

Scott heard the giggling and the breathless laughter as they sped past his office, and poked his head outside, seeing Jubilee punch in her code for the Danger Room door, and Hank disappear up the stairs leading to the Control Room. Going back to his desk, he tapped his pen against the most recent maintenance report on the Blackbird Jet and frowned. "Jubilee and Hank laughing and the Danger Room…not a good sign." He threw the pen down and walked inside the Danger Room just in time to be blinded by an explosion of bright white light that almost made the safety glass shatter.

"Beast…" He began warningly as the spots began to clear, and Hank laughed softly.

"That was her letting off a large burst of normal Paffs." He murmured, clearing his throat. "I'm glad we didn't go with her request to go with the new ones as large as she could."

"Hank? What's going on?" Scott asked again, his eyes flicking to Jubilee as she held up her hands in the traditional silent gesture of 'What?'

"Her powers have indeed evolved. She is now officially an Alpha Class Mutant." He sounded proud, and Scott felt a small smile tug at his lips.

"Very good. Now shut down the danger room; only outside testing of how large her powers can get from now on; understood?"

"Hank, I don't think we should go any bigger! That Paff nearly took out the holo-grid." Jubilee shouted up, regretting her haste to test her powers; she'd forgotten her ear-piece. "Hank?!"

"One moment, Jubilee; Scott, I don't know what doing this outside would even do. This is a contained environment…"

* * *

"You want what?" Nick frowned and took the cigar out of his mouth and handing the clipboard back to Dum Dum.

"I want to know if you have access to any bomb testing facilities that I could utilize." Hank murmured, watching Nick's face crease on the screen. "I require quite a large area to work in."

Nick blinked again, giving his head a small half-shake. He still wasn't sure he'd heard correctly. "Since when did you start testing weapons? Hell, since when did you start _making_ weapons?"

Hank cleared his throat awkwardly. "It is not a weapon…well, I suppose some people might class her as a weapon, but I never would. You see, Jubilation's powers have never really been fully tested. I mean, we do try in the Danger Room, but the most recent test almost took out the danger room. Now there have been some developments, and we need to know her new limits. Without taking out the Mansion."

Nick twisted his mouth, but finally nodded. "Ok. I guess we could find some kind of a range she could work in. Anyone else you want to have blow up stuff?"

Hank sat back and thought hard. "Do you know, this might actually…yes. Yes I do. I know exactly who…"

XXXxxxXXX

"Why do I feel like an extra in a bad B-Movie?" Jubilee muttered as the mist rose from the sandy soil in the grey, pre-dawn light. Ahead of her, as far as the eye could see, was barren earth, and beside her, Violet fought a yawn.

"Maybe something to do with the directors chairs behind us, the camera set up in the bunker and the fact that we've got an audience?" She gestured to the small slits in the bunker and Jubilee laughed softly.

"Yeah. Could have something to do with that." She agreed. "What are you here for, anyhow?"

Violet shrugged, looking down at her feet. "Dr. McCoy said something about testing my powers properly. I don't know. Maybe he just wants to keep my mind off…off mom and everything. And I'm not doing so good in my training."

She sounded glum and sighed heavily.

"You just have to stop worrying about hurting someone. We're all big enough to handle ourselves; and if you are fighting someone that isn't us, then the whole point is to stop them…and hurt them. Ooohp, here comes trouble in Jack Boots."

She nodded her head west to where a jeep was barreling towards them.

"Hey, Nicky. How's tricks?"

Nick rolled his eyes as he clambered out of the drivers seat. "Fine, kid. You know why yer here?"

"Something about things going boom." Jubilee shrugged again. "After that, not really sure. Vi?"

When Vi shrugged too, Fury rolled his eyes. "I can't believe Hank didn't tell you-"

"Hank and Logan had to high-tail it to Egypt with Storm the night before last, just after he got off the phone with you. They had to extract one of the Prof's operatives that got himself stuck between a rock and a hard place." Jubilee advised him quietly. "He said you'd explain everything if he wasn't back in time. Scott wasn't even a hundred percent sure why he was bringing us here this morning."

Growling softly, Fury sat down in one of the canvas chairs. "Lee, you make things go boom. Parr, you shield things when things go boom. That's why we're here. To find out how big a boom you can make, and to find out how much Violet can contain. Got it?"

Jubilee nodded slowly. "Okaaaay…"

"Hank's left some instructions, so don't look at me like that, Lee. Vi's up first. We're working with real explosives, kids, so no mucking about. Lee, you're up at about 1400. Hank wants you to absorb as much rays as you can before we try anything, so get in the jeep and go with Corporal Collins. He'll take you a bit away so you're not in the range of what we lob at Incredigirl."

Jubilee patted Violet gently on the shoulder and sashayed over to the Jeep, sliding into the seat and flashing the handsome Corporal a wide, sexy smile. "Hi there. What's your name?"

As the Jeep started up and moved away, Violet rolled her eyes, spotting Fury's face immediately darken as he wondered if the blonde, blue-eyed Collins was the right guy to send off with Jubilee. "I don't think she gets to flirt much with Logan around; She's only having fun. So….what am I doing?"

XXXxxxXXX

Jubilee stripped off her top layer of clothing and lay out on the hood of the jeep, a small smile on her face as the soldier tried desperately not to stare. She had a whole seven hours to absorb as much UV rays as she could, and dressed in a bra and briefs, she was planning on getting a decent tan while she was at it. They'd driven up onto the long ridge that lay behind the bomb range and Jubilee had immediately hopped out, eager to see what Fury would throw at Violet.

"Don't worry about oogling, soldier." She smiled, keeping her eyes closed against the harsh desert sunlight. "So long as you don't even think of touching, I don't mind."

"Wha…I don't know if you should be like that, Miss." He stammered, and Jubilee shook her head.

"I do. You know what I am, right?" She turned over onto her front and slid the sunglasses down her nose, looking at him through the windshield. "I'm a mutant. I get a lot of my powers from carbs and sugar, and the rest from the sun. Fury said we're here to test my powers, so he wants me fully charged. That's why I get to sunbathe for the next…" She looked down at her watch and shrugged, "seven or so hours, not counting eating. Your job, bub, is to make sure I don't get heat stroke, keep hydrated and basically, keep me company while Vi-" She broke off as the ground shook from an explosion and she quickly sat up just in time to see a column of dust, smoke and flame rise up into the sky in the distance. "Does what she does." Reaching over the low windshield, she grabbed the binoculars from around his neck and raised them up to her eyes as the dust cleared showing Violet standing in the middle of a sparkling shield. "Wow. You got a second pair in there?" She looked over at him and realized she hadn't managed to pull the strap fully off his head and he was lying across the steering wheel and windshield, trying to unhook it. "Sorry man…Come up here and sit with me. This is more interesting than oogling me any day."

Collins seemed to weigh his options, and with the thoughts of court-martial running through his mind, he quickly located a second set of binoculars and sat beside her on the hood of the jeep. A few minutes later, another jeep drew up beside them, and Mitchell Diablo got out, jerking his thumb at his jeep. "Collins, you are relieved of duty. Bring my jeep back."

Jubilee rolled her eyes as the Corporal slid off the Jeep and sighed as Diablo came to stand beside her, watching her peer through the binoculars. After a long, pregnant pause, she murmured; "Sorry about kicking you in the head." Keeping her eyes on the cloud of dust that rose up in the distance.

He blew out a long breath and climbed up beside her, taking a look through Collins's forgotten binoculars.

"I figure I probably deserved it. If you were really a hostile, chica, I'd be dead now. You taught me a lesson." He replied grudgingly, sitting back against the windscreen of the Jeep. She held out a bag of jellies to him and he took one, popping it into his mouth.

Jubilee smiled and settled back against him, her smile fading as she began to think properly about her powers, and the strange new well that seemed to be available to her now.

As the sun moved across the sky, he made sure that she kept eating from the bag of goodies and laughed softly as she popped a bag of popcorn between her hands.

As it began its descent, Jubilee leant her head against his arm, using him as a pillow and sighed. "It'd be nice to be able to do that." She mused as Vi expanded her shield as far as she could, deflecting a pineapple grenade away from Fury.

"What, make a shield?" Diablo asked curiously, and she nodded, sucking on a lollypop.

"Yeah. I mean, all I can do is make things fry. I hurt; I can't help, if you get me? I admire that; I'm a weapon but she's defense. She can really save someone with her powers."

He nodded slowly, putting down his binoculars. "Yeah, but together, I'd say you'd be able to do a lot. I mean, the two of you together could be a pretty dangerous team. She could stop whatever gets thrown at you, and you could stop whatever is coming for you…"

"Still…" She sighed and shrugged, looking at her watch. "I'd better get dressed. We've got about fifteen minutes to get back there." She hopped off the hood and dragged the top of her uniform over her head. "Thanks for keeping me company. I know it's not the most exciting mission in the world, but I appreciate it."

The battle-hardened SHIELD soldier smiled as he got behind the wheel. "Jubilee, keeping a pretty young lady like yourself company for eight hours was my pleasure. And it beats getting kicked in the head any day."

XXXxxxXXX

Inside the bunker, Violet removed the sweat and grime from her face with a wet towel, feeling thoroughly wiped. Fury had worked her hard for longer than she'd ever trained before. And with more power behind the explosives than she'd regularly dealt with. Sure, she'd managed to shield her family from explosions, but not of the magnitude that SHIELD had managed to produce. She was glad that he'd stopped short of dropping a bomb on her, but they'd been pretty sure she'd be able to stop that, too. Now it was Jubilee's turn, and she stood by the small slits that served as windows for the bunker, looking on as Nick talked to Jubilee. She heard a short bark of an angry shout, and Vi shared a glance with Diablo before turning back to watch Jubilee clench a fist by her side.

"She wants to punch him..." Vi murmured, and he nodded.

"That wouldn't surprise me. From what I've seen recently, that's all she ever wants to do." He replied frankly. "I wonder what he said?"

"Probably something about her powers. She's touchy about 'em. I don't know why. It'd be nice to be able to be offensive for once."

Diablo started to laugh softly and when she glared at him, he patted her on the shoulder. "While you and the Colonel were having fun, she said she'd like to be able to do what you do. Chica said that all she can do is blow things up. You can stop people from getting hurt."

Vi made a surprised sound and closed her mouth with a clop as Jubilee stalked away from Nick, beginning to trot out into the desert. "Where's she going?"

Fury walked back into the bunker and hit a switch which lowered blast shields down onto the windows. "Kid's gonna try a big explosion with her normal paffs. I told her to do it as big as she's ever gone before. It'll give us a base line on-" He was cut off by a large boom and a hail of dust rained down on them while the sensors that lined one of the walls began to go haywire. A quick look at the scientist sitting in front of the monitors showed the man gaping at the results, and he cleared his throat nervously.

"Rupert?"

"Colonel, that was as powerful as a F-27 mark II."

Fury blinked and picked up the radio. "Now go bigger."

"Roger Colonel Slightly Peeved." Jubilee muttered, dusting the sand from her hair. "He wants bigger, I'll give him bigger."

Adjusting her stance, she cracked her knuckles and produced a huge paff, bigger than before. She could only see the colours as they swirled around her, and when she judged they were twice the size as the last one, she let them go, dropping to the ground as the blast knocked her off her feet.

Inside the bunker, Violet lay on the ground with Diablo on top of her, shielding her from an anticipated hail of dust. "Oookaaay…."

"Lee, that as big as you can go?" Fury asked, and Jubilee sat up, blowing out a mouthful of sand.

"No. You want bigger, or do you want me to start on the new orbie things?"

Fury looked over at Rupert. "Hang on…"

"I would advise we move the bunker underground if she starts doing bigger." The man's eyes were wide, and Fury rolled his eyes, hitting the switch to make the concrete bunker descend into it's housing. "We'll go with bigger, Lee. If you think you can hack it." He was deliberately baiting her, on instruction from McCoy, and it galled him to do it. He mostly liked Jubilee, and some of the things he'd said out there didn't sit right with him. He'd have to apologize later, and that didn't sit right with him either. He hated apologizing.

"Up yours, Fury." Jubilee snapped into the radio and dropped it to the ground, summoning as much power as she could. "Make it bigger, Lee! He wants it bigger, he'll get bigger…"

This time the blast was accompanied by a secondary explosion, and lying on the ground, Jubilee's mouth formed a large O as she turned around to watch the pillar of flame that was once the jeeps.

Inside the bunker, Fury's eyebrows creased as he tried to work out what had exploded.

"Jeep." Rupert and Violet chorused at the same time, and Nick rolled his eyes.

"Great. Lee-"

"Do you want to go again? I can do this all day." She snapped angrily, and Fury sighed before hitting the 'talk' button.

"Let's go with the orbs this time. I want to get out of here before it gets dark."

Jubilee growled, not even bothering to answer, and not waiting for instruction on the size of the orb, she folded her arms in front of her chest and sat down on the ground, concentrating hard with her eyes closed. Using the memories of the feelings she felt the previous times her powers had gone 'hinky', she reached into her pool of power, drawing as much as she dared and channeled it into the darkness behind her eyes. After a few seconds, she felt the strain as the orb fought her for release, and she let it go.

XXXxxxXXX

Diablo was the first to open his eyes, and when he did he was faced with impenetrable darkness. For a brief moment he wondered if he was dead. After a few more seconds, the back-up generator kicked-in, and the lights turned back on. Rupert was draped over the console, and Violet and Fury were lying on the floor, the black haired Super draped over his commanding officer. All were breathing, and he sat up gingerly, reaching for the radio. When he got no answer from Jubilee, he made the bunker rise back up into the open air, and wrenched open the door, running out, intent on getting to her as quickly as possible.

Two steps out of the building, he slid to a stop, blinking as lung-choking dust swirled around him, enveloping everything in its cloak. "Lee!" He called out, ripping a strip of material from his shirt and binding it around his mouth. Heading out into the desert, he began to run towards where he thought she was, hoping the dust would settle soon. It didn't take him long to find her, or at least, it didn't take him long to find the twenty foot wide crater she had created.

"_Hijo de puta_…" He breathed softly as the air began to clear, and he took a step back, trying to take it all in. The sand around her had melted and solidified into a glassy substance, which was still plinking and cracking as it cooled, and in the center was Jubilee, sitting cross-legged, her eyes closed and her arms crossed in front of her chest. Not a hair on her head was singed, though she was coated with dust from head to toe, and looking down, he realized he was the same.

"Chica, what did you do…?" he sat on the edge of the steep crater and slid down the rapidly cooling glass until he reached her side, feeling carefully for a pulse. It was there, and it was strong, but she didn't move a muscle at his touch, or when he cupped her cheek in his hand and shouted her name loudly. Grimacing, he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder, turning to look at the side of the crater.

Taking out his side arm, he shot at the glass, punching foot holes into the slick surface and quickly climbed out, Jubilee hanging limply down his back.

By the time he had gotten out, the air around them had mostly cleared, and he began to trot towards the squat shape of the bunker in the distance, still slightly obscured by a dusty haze. As he drew closer, a thought that was niggling at his mind finally snapped to attention, and once again he found himself standing in the middle of the desert, blinking uncertainly.

The ridge was gone. The forty foot high, three hundred foot long rock ridge was gone. Violet and Fury were standing beside the bunker, and Violet had both hands on top of her head as she turned around in shock, while Rupert was running towards the ridge with some kind of device in his hands, holding up a sensor as he ran.

"Sir?"

"Get on the radio; see how far the shockwave went." Fury ordered as Violet helped him set Jubilee down on the ground. Diablo returned a few minutes later to see Jubilee sitting up, drinking from a water bottle as Violet supported her back, talking to her softly.

"Colonel, the shock wave traveled over 10 miles…the base said that they have no windows left, sir. General Henderson is on his way out here right now, and Colonel Obermeir wants to know what the hell is going on and should he send in a team."

"Tell him to stand down. Rupert?"

The scientist walked back to them with a bemused, slightly startled smile. "I'd say a kiloton, Colonel. If not more…my god, the power…"

Violet looked up sharply, clearly wondering what they meant. "What's a kiloton?"

"You did history, right?"

Violet nodded, still holding the canteen to Jubilee's lips as the girl herself stared at Fury, clearly still slightly dazed.

"You heard of Hiroshima?"

Both girls nodded numbly, and Fury sighed, going down on one knee in front of Jubilee to wipe a streak of dust from her eyes. "Well, the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima was the equivalent of about 13 kilotons of explosives. What Jubilee did here is the equivalent of something about thirteen times smaller than that nuclear bomb. But without the nasty radiation…right?" He looked up to Rupert for reassurance, and the scientist nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes! There is just the normal background radiation. I'll have to check closer to the blast site, but so far as I can see, all she did was basically blow it up! Man, she blew up the ridge!" he was practically dancing on the spot, the Geiger counter still in his hands, and with a happy nod to Jubilee, he hurried off in the direction of the crater.

"That guy is way too happy from something that went boom." Jubilee muttered, trying to ignore the implications of what Fury had just said.

"You did good, kid." Fury patted her cheek gently, a wry smile on his face. "And about earlier…I was just tryin' to get you riled up. Hank told me to so you'd be more willing to actually use your powers."

"Well, next time you say something like that to me, Nick, remember that explosion, and then remember the fact that I did _that_," she gestured to the notably absent ridge, "_after_ explosions Big, Large and Humongous. Remember that, ok?"

Nick nodded slowly, a strange glint coming to his eye. "Kid…you wanna try again tomorrow…without the Big, Large and Humongous?"

Jubilee was about to say no, but hesitated. A part of her really wanted to let loose, and she chewed at her lower lip. "What if…"

"Kid, the base has no windows. They ain't gonna get them replaced in the next 24 hours. Now's the time…"

Violet could see the devil warring with the angel on Jubilee's shoulder, and gave her a nudge. "I'd do it." She whispered, and Jubilee licked at her lips nervously.

"Scott did say when he dropped us off that I needed to find out what I could do…" She hazarded, raking her teeth across her lip.

"Plus, you'd make Rupert's day."

"I'll need the same amount of time in the sun, though." Jubilee muttered, staggering to her feet as a Jeep containing a highly rattled General drew up beside them. "Deal."

"What in the Sam Hill is going on here! Half my base is uninhabitable!" Henderson snapped, climbing out of the jeep. He was regular army, but while he wasn't in SHIELD line of command, he had been ordered to do as the Colonel said. Sometimes it sucked when your superiors owed someone a big favour.

Fury wrapped an arm around Jubilee, helping her to stay on her feet, and she smiled almost sweetly at the angry man. "Oh, you haven't seen anything yet."

As the General gaped, Jubilee squinted up at him, holding onto Nick tightly. "Hey, General, you got any UV lights hanging around? What do you say we go for the big one?"

The General stared at her worriedly as she was led over to the jeep and sat on the wheel rim. "Oh, stop looking at me like that ya big baby. You haven't got any windows left, as Nick here so helpfully pointed out. What's there to lose?"

The General shot a look at Fury, who shrugged nonchalantly, leaning against the General's Jeep. "You'll destroy the place..." he whispered hoarsely, and Jubilee shook her head.

"No. I won't. I think I got a good feel of what's happening with the last blast." She looked down at the ground, thinking hard with her nose scrunched up in a tiny frown. Fury watched her mind tick over as she stared at her dust-covered shoes. When the General was about to ask a question, he held up his hand for silence, shaking his head. Leading the man away, he began a hushed conversation with him.

"Don't say a word. She's dealing with a lot of power in that little body of hers; she needed to get a feel for it and work out how she can work with it. She's doin' that now. By tomorrow, I'm guessing she'll be able to direct it whatever way she wants."

"And if she can't?" Obermeir hissed angrily.

"If she can't get a hold of her powers, she might just blow up the world; got it? According to her superiors, she's well on her way to being an Alpha Class Mutant. World breaker; got it?"

"Alpha…" The General went pale, even though he didn't truly understand the significance of the power classes. "Alpha? What's beyond Alpha…"

"If she went to Omega, she could probably destroy the universe. If she wanted. Right now, just be glad she's one of the good ones."

"And she's…?"

"Seventeen. When she was thirteen, she had the ability to destroy a city block; she once blew up a warehouse, but I think it scared her enough that she didn't try anything that big again..until now. Trust me, Obermeir, we're lucky she's one of the good ones."

XXXxxxXXX

"So, how did it go?" Scott asked, holding the cell phone to his ear as he stuffed laundry into the washing machine in front of him. Two machines down, Bobby was watching a twenty dollar bill going around on the spin cycle, looking mildly annoyed as he half-listened in on Scott's conversation. When Scott stood abruptly, a concerned frown on his face, he turned his attention fully on Scott.

"She what?"

There was a long pause and Scott sat down heavily on the bench beside him, a shocked look on his face. "I'll…I'll have someone come down for the next test…" he hung up and dragged his hand down his face, staring into mid-air.

"Fury?"

Scott nodded numbly. "Jubilee…blew up a ridge. Fury said it was equal to a kiloton of explosives…a kiloton, Bobby…"

He moved over on the bench as Bobby sat heavily beside him, and they both watched the clothes begin to turn in the machine. "A kiloton." Bobby repeated after a few minutes had passed, and Scott nodded numbly. "That's like…a kiloton…big boom."

"Big explosion." Scott agreed with a tiny shake of his head, barely able to believe what Fury had just told him.

"Do you want me to head down there?" Scott nodded numbly before giving himself a shake and getting back to his feet.

"Asap. And bring Emma with you. I'd feel more comfortable if we had some more people down there. Damnit, I wish Hank could have rescheduled the tests for when he was back."

XXXxxxXXX

Dawn the next day had a mini-jet landing in the main compound of the base, and when Emma and Bobby disembarked, they found Jubilee standing waiting for them, a sheepish expression on her face.

"Hi guys, sorry you got dragged into this. I know you got better things to do with your Saturday's than spend it in bumfuck Nevada watching me blow stuff up."

Bobby held out his hands and half-ran over to her, hugging her tight. "Congratulations Sparkles, you did a big bada boom."

Jubilee let him hug her before she punched him lightly on the arm, ignoring the soldiers that had gathered around them. "Yeah. Big bada boom. Gunna be an even bigger boom later on, after I soak up some more rays and eat some more chocolate." She grinned impishly, and Bobby resisted the urge to gulp.

"Jubilee, where is Violet?" Emma asked, breaking up the reunion – after all, they had only seen each other last Wednesday.

"Back in the cabin…barrack block…whatever. She's asleep. She stayed up talking to Corporal Collins and his friends last night."

Bobby looked her up and down and touched a finger to the skin on her exposed arm. "Jubes, are you sunburned?"

Jubilee's smile faded slightly and she shrugged. "A little. Putting on sun block kind of defeats the purpose of what I'm trying to do here. Plus I slept under UV lamps last night…I wonder if the Prof. would agree to install a sun bed…"

Emma rolled her eyes and turned Jubilee around, pushing her in the direction of the main building. "Just bring me to Fury, Jubilation. I wish to see his readouts of your little display yesterday."

XXXxxxXXX

That afternoon, sitting in a jeep with a pair of sunglasses on, Emma watched Jubilee failing miserably at trying to stand still. She had consumed what had to be an almost lethal dose of sugar over the day, and was twitching worse than a dog with a flea infestation. She was literally bursting with energy, and had obvious trouble focusing, as she was blinking rapidly and her head was darting around.

"Have you ever seen her like this before?" the General asked quietly, and Emma shook her head.

"I have." Bobby volunteered from where he was leaning against the door of the jeep. "I think it was a couple of months after she got to the mansion. One of Hank's first, and probably only proper experiments on her. He just kept feeding her sweet things and by the evening, she was as jittery as…well, that." He pointed at her as she hopped up and down, shaking his head. "Hank brought her out into the woods, and there was a clap of noise, like thunder. The sky looked like an aurora borealis."

"He was experimenting on her?" The General looked concerned, and Emma quickly shook her head.

"Not like that, General. More testing her limits, trying to see what makes her tick. All above board and with her permission. Which is why this is the first time in nearly six years that she's let someone test her limits. She has very tight control, General. She's always been afraid she would hurt someone with them. If we stay another day or so, I'll ask her if she'll do a display for you. Show your guys what she's really capable of doing." Bobby said with a small grin on his face.

"Blowing up half my base isn't good enough for her?" The General grumbled, and Emma gave an amused laugh.

"Oh, General, you haven't seen anything yet."

Twenty minutes later, Jubilee found herself standing in the middle of the desert, completely alone. The only contact she had with anyone was courtesy of Emma's voice in her head, and it felt like an age before she was given the order to do as much as she could.

This time, there was no anger involved, and she stood in the harsh desert sunlight, her hands raised high above her head. This time, she watched as the orb grew into shape above her, and she held onto it as long as she could, her limbs shaking from the strain of making something so destructive.

Miles away, Emma braced herself as a shockwave of dust blew past her, enveloping them all in a cloud of beige. "Like the last time?" She asked Fury, and he nodded.

"Yeah. Rupert?"

Rupert's reply was lost as a loud clap of sound followed the shockwave, and Bobby winced as he covered his ears with his hands.

"What?"

"Three point five kilotons, Colonel."

Emma ignored them, concentrating on trying to talk to Jubilee. //Jubilee?//

When there was no answer, she started up the Jeep and began to speed back into the blast zone, the convoy starting out behind her. When she reached the edge of the crater, her eyes were wide and she quickly slid down the glassy substance, ignoring the heat as she ran at full speed towards the centre.

Jubilee was not only lying in the crater, but the force of the blast had pushed her further down into the crystallized soil. Sliding to her knees, she half-pulled Jubilee from the impression and checked her for damage. A small tendril of blood trickled from her nose and mouth, and Emma quickly tilted her head to the side, looking for blood in her ears. "Damnit, Jubilee…." Looking up, she found a crowd of people gathered around the edge of the crater. "Get a medic down here!"

Fury, Bobby and a man holding a green bag with a red first-aid sign on it were already sliding down and Emma reluctantly allowed Fury to stand next to her.

"No more big explosions." Emma ordered, standing smoothly and fixing Fury with a glare. "McCoy be damned, I'm not letting her be subjected to this any longer."

Fury shook his head. "It's her choice, Frost."

"If I have anything to do with it, she won't." Bobby declared darkly. "Blood was never supposed to be part of the equation!"

As they spoke, Jubilee's eyes fluttered open and she sat, pushing away the medic. "Was it big?" She half-shouted, blinking rapidly. "Bigger? Am I shouting? Shit, I can't hear worth a damn…" She hit her palm against her ear a few times, shaking her head. "Nope. Bobby, was it big?"

Bobby gave her two thumbs up and she blinked at him, wide-eyed. "Bigger than the last one?"

As Emma rolled her eyes, Bobby held up three fingers, made a fist and then held up five.

"Three point five? Wow, so cool. Let's never try it again!"

Emma nodded in agreement, seeing how stunned Jubilee was. //Jubilee, are you ok?//

"I feel like I fell off the merry-go-round." Jubilee half-shouted, blinking rapidly. "It was fun, but not so much that I want to repeat it. Ever…"

XXXxxxXXX

"So, what now?" General Henderson asked as Jubilee dusted herself down and looked at her hands thoughtfully.

"We will see what she can do with a smaller orb." Emma decided, effectively taking control of the situation away from Fury. The Colonel didn't seem to mind, and sat with his feet up on the dashboard of one of the jeeps. Soft booms in the distance showed that Bobby was continuing with Violet's training. It wasn't often they got to work with live explosives, and the telepath could feel Bobby enjoying it.

//Jubilee, please see if you can create a small –very small orb and move it with your mind.// She instructed, stepping back as Jubilee dropped the bottle of soda she had been drinking and nodded, squaring her shoulders.

An hour later, under Emma's direction, Jubilee was making her orbs dart around the place, and had converted them from high-energy into low-energy, and after a few minutes reprieve, had worked out a way to fix it onto an object and keep it there with minimal effort.

Emma had to admit, as the girl sauntered away from a rock with a cocky swagger to her step, she had truly grown up in the past couple of months. She now looked like a woman instead of a teenager, and had filled out her uniform quite well. At least, that was the impression she was getting from the soldiers around them that had gathered to observe.

Their libido's seemed to wane when Jubilee held up both hands and clicked her fingers, releasing the orb she had planted behind the rock. They were all showered with pieces of grit from the now non-existent boulder, and some of the less battle hardened men paled.

"Well?" Jubilee asked, glad that her hearing had begun to return.

"Nicely done. A bit showy, though." Fury shouted, throwing a water bottle at her.

Jubilee shrugged, ignoring the stares she was getting. "Hey, it's me, Fury. What did you expect? If I can do showy, I can do covert. You know me." As if to prove a point, she threw the bottle in the air and concentrated. The bottle exploded, showering her with a fine mist of water and she shrugged, taking another from the cooler in the back of the jeep. After a few seconds, a small rock twenty feet away blew up, and a second, and then a third, and Nick rolled his eyes.

"Ok, kid. I get it."

"I think that's enough for the day." Emma declared, looking at the horizon where the sun was just beginning to slip behind the mountains. "Head back to the base. We've done enough here to make McCoy happy."

Jubilee nodded and slipped into the seat beside her at the back of the jeep and laid her head on her former teacher's arm as Nick started up the Jeep.

"Tired?"

Jubilee shrugged, closing her eyes. "Yes and no. Mentally, I guess. I'm still juiced up though. Might take a nap and try to work off some of the extra jitters after…if that would be ok?"

Emma smiled, threading her arm around Jubilee's shoulder, happy in the knowledge that no one could see the almost tender gesture. "I told the General that you might give them a display later, when it is dark."

She felt more than saw Jubilee's smile, and they both settled back for the long ride back to the base.

When the jeep stopped, Fury looked over his shoulder to find Emma carefully disentangling herself from a sleeping Jubilee, and he smiled faintly. The White Queen definitely had a small chink in her armor. And Jubilee had wormed her way into it at some point.

"She ok?" He asked gruffly, and Emma nodded, carefully unlatching Jubilee's hand from her arm.

"Tired. She is taking a nap. Get one of the grunts to carry her back to her cot. She will wake when she wishes." She said as Jubilee muttered incoherently and sighed, slipping back into a deep sleep. "I need to check on Robert and Violet. See what kind of progress they have made."

XXXxxxXXX

Violet watched Bobby set the charge and inwardly cringed as he hightailed it behind the blast barrier. "Bobby, you are getting too much of a kick out of this." She called out, and she could hear him snigger through her ear-piece. Jubilee had been right. Bobby had never truly grown up. Biting back a grin, she created a force field around herself and waited for the bang. After a minute, nothing happened, and she could see Bobby peering hesitantly over the blast barrier, a frown on his face.

"Bobby, how long did you set the charge for?" She called out, and Bobby checked his watch.

"Fifty seconds…it should have-" He broke off when he saw Emma approaching behind Violet and made a frantic shooing gesture, which Emma ignored. Violet's gaze darted quickly from the device to the leader of Gamma Team and quickly made a decision. She wrapped a force field around the bomb and…_twisted_. Even later she couldn't be exactly sure about how she had done it. She'd concentrated and suddenly the force field seemed to twitch and the bomb wasn't there anymore.

"What is Robert looking so worried about?" Emma asked curiously as she approached the now sweating Violet, and the girl rounded on Emma, white faced.

"This is a bomb range! You could have been killed!" She screeched, and Emma slowly raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow.

"Don't be so sure." Emma smirked, looking to where the bomb had sat. "This was part of your training. And stop gibbering, Robert, you look like a fool."

Bobby shut his mouth with a snap and shook his head. "I'm done. Vi, I think we should let it rest for the day. So, how did Jubie-Jubes do?"

"Satisfactorily." Emma nodded curtly. "She is resting."

Bobby blinked and the soldiers with him paused in the middle of packing away the rest of the explosives.

"Resting or _resting?"_ he asked worriedly. If looks could kill, Emma would have destroyed an entire platoon.

"Robert, just what kind of a woman do you think I am?"

"The White Queen." Bobby replied frankly as Violet stared at them, still shaking slightly from the fright. "You're not exactly a 'people person'."

Emma glared down her nose at him, her eyes glinting angrily in the harsh sunlight. "I would warn you to remember that as I am not a 'people person', I have no qualms in making you think you are a duck, Mr. Drake. Would you like to act like your namesake for the rest of the day?"

Bobby went to open his mouth, only to have Violet stick her hand firmly over it, muffling the sounds. "I think that we'd all like to go back to the Base now, and have a nice cool drink, in the shade and stay as human beings – minds and all." She announced firmly. "And nobody wants to be a duck. Especially me."

Emma's eyes narrowed, and she got into the passenger seat of the Jeep, glaring at Bobby pointedly. The younger mutant sighed and slipped behind the wheel, leaving Violet to hop into the open back with the two soldiers that had accompanied them.

Bobby pursed his lips and started up the jeep, violently shifting gears. The journey was completed in silence, but Violet had a feeling that there was a conversation going on between Bobby and Emma that no one else was privy to. Mainly because sometimes Bobby missed a turn or sped up as his knuckles whitened around the steering wheel.

When they got out of the Jeep, Emma and Bobby shared one long look before stalking off to the main building, leaving Violet and the soldiers staring at each other, mystified.

"Any idea what that was about?" Collins asked quietly and Violet shook her head.

"Aside from both of them losing what's left of their sanity? No."

XXXxxxXXX

Jubilee didn't take long to rouse when they got back to the barracks, and woke up feeling much fresher than she had. She'd been mentally tired, not physically, and when Violet reminded her of her promise of Fireworks, she'd immediately perked up.

It seemed that half the base had turned out to watch whatever was going on, and she and Bobby wandered up the hill behind the Mess Hall, the older mutant slinging his arm around her shoulders. Though he was older than her by many years, Bobby had never really thought of her as a kid; more like a little sister who was also his partner in crime. And he was really looking forward to what was to come.

"You got enough juice to do something good, or is it just going to be sparkles?" He asked, making himself comfortable on the ground while she took up a steady stance, flexing her fingers.

Flashing him a wicked grin, she rolled her eyes theatrically. "Robert Andrew 'Ice-Man' Drake; have I ever 'just done sparkles' when I promised a display?" She cleared her throat and looked up at the clear, starry night sky. "I'll give them something special."

Standing beside Obermeir, Fury waited patiently for the display; he'd only ever heard rumors of what was about to happen, and was looking forward to something to think back on when things got worse; something he was sure was going to happen.

As the first light burst exploded above their heads, Emma smiled, moving to stand beside Violet who was clearly gaping at the light display in wonder. "Wait." Emma cautioned her quietly. "This is just her warming up."

Violet's eyes widened as the next burst turned into a stunning flower; the outline drifting away into the darkness. The next was a tree, and then another spectacular star-burst. "She really enjoys doing this." Frost continued quietly. "It took her over a year to master the ability to make more than just the star-bursts; and is why I am not surprised that she can now produce Paff's out of thin air. It takes a lot of mental effort for her to control the shape and size of them. She applied herself to her training and though it did not appear to be so, she paid attention to those who were training her."

Violet bristled at the obvious barb, and the smile faded from Emma's face. "This is a hard game we play, Violet. Not every fight has a comfortable padded mat to land on. Not every foe will pull a punch if it gets near your pretty little face. We play for keeps. And, if we did not care for your survival, we would not bother." She looked down at Violet pointedly and flicked an invisible piece of dust from her own shoulder. "Remember; those you fight now have fought many times before; as have you, I know. But your parents have sheltered you as much as they could. Your father has taken blows for you because he could easily absorb them. Your mother has protected you, and your very powers are defensive. But we will not win this war being on the defense. And you will not survive if you are afraid to strike back. I would advise you to work on that little trick you did today with the bomb that did not explode. It may serve to save you some day. We will be leaving for home tomorrow evening once Jubilee has blown up enough to keep both Fury and Beast happy; when we arrive at the mansion, you and I will have a training session together. If you are not ready to hit someone after that, then you truly have a problem."

Up on the Hill, Bobby watched Violet's face turn from wonder, to anger, to thoughtfulness and he frowned, wondering what Emma was telling her. Checking his watch, he gave Jubilee another ten minutes before tapping her leg. "Wind it up, Jubes."

Jubilee nodded and let her hands fall down to her sides, closing her eyes for a moment as she thought about what she was going to produce next. Biting her lower lip, she lifted her chin up and in front of her eyes a paff began to grow; expanding and rising up into the sky. Using her hands like a sculpture, she mimicked pulling at the brightly burning sparks, moving the outline until a Silver Dragon hovered over the base, wings beating ferociously at the air. A second Dragon soon followed, this time in Red and they both hovered in the still night air for a moment before the Red Dragon turned and swooped through the air towards the gathered soldiers. It swooped low over their heads and sailed up into the air, closely followed by the Silver Dragon, and Violet let out a delighted laugh when she saw the Silver X emblazoned across its chest. The dragons swooped and 'fought' in the air, battling intricately until the Red Dragon exploded in a riot of colours; the Silver Dragon doing a barrel roll before buzzing the crowd and exploding high above their heads in a spectacular eruption of silver fire.

**Hope you enjoyed this - first chapter written on my new computer :) Sorry for the delays, as always, but a nice long chapter for ye.**


	14. Lightning Strike

**AN: Just for clarification, because I've gotten a few PM's about it: The 'Supers' are from Pixar's The Incredibles. And as always, those who trademark, own. Since I've never trademarked anything in my life, I don't own.**

As he stepped off the jet into the intense heat of the Egyptian desert Logan winced and looked over towards the Libyan border, sliding a pair of sunglasses onto his nose. Behind him, Hank sighed, already feeling lethargic from the heat, his blue fur hidden by a long traditional robe and the headdress that wound around his head and face. Storm, however, eyed the sand dunes warily.

"We should seek out the settlement and try to resolve this as swiftly as possible." She announced, descending the steps regally. "There will be a sandstorm soon."

Logan nodded, but Apogee frowned.

"I thought she was a weather witch?" She asked curiously as the wind whipped at her robes, and Storm sighed.

"I am able to control the elements; however, controlling the Saharan desert is something completely different. It would be like trying to stop the tides. It would destroy me before I'd even had a chance to take a breath." Not stopping to hear a reply, she began to make her way through the sands, Hank not far behind her.

"Storm grew up in Egypt." Logan grunted, nodding to Remy who had been volunteered to stay behind and mind the jet. "She knows better 'n anyone here what to do."

The red-head nodded, dragging the hood of her robe over her head, and fell into step beside him. "So if she tells me to do something, I do it, right?"

Logan glanced down at her and shrugged. "She's the team leader so if she says to do something, you do it no matter where we are. Guthrie, move your ass!"

Paige rolled her eyes but hurried to shut the ramp of the jet and catch up. By the time she reached Logan, Storm and Bishop had already disappeared over the nearest dune. "There's a man with a rifle just over the dune to the right." Paige murmured quietly, and Logan nodded, pleased to see that the blonde didn't look at him as she spoke, but rather on their surroundings.

"Man with a rifle crouched just over the ridge to our left."

Paige nodded, and the wind picked up slightly. "I see him. We should have brought a telepath." She muttered, and Logan nodded, walking faster.

"If there's two, there's more. Apogee, can you trot on and let the others know. I don't want to draw attention to them. Husk, don't look at him."

Paige nodded, flexing her fingers slightly as she summoned her powers and changed underneath her top layer of skin, leaving enough that she appeared normal and could strip away the outer layer of skin in a second to reveal it. "So, Adamantium is quite good for repelling bullets, right?"

Logan smirked slightly and nodded, keeping his attention on the dune to his left. From the way Paige was walking, he knew the blonde was keeping her attention on their other side. It wasn't long before they caught up with the others just before reaching the small cluster of tents. Logan could hear the shouting long before everyone else, but was unable to understand the Arabic words. Storm on the other hand could, and she broke into a run, her robe flapping in the rising wind.

In the centre of the cluster of huts, a group of men in traditional dress were clustered around Barry Kranmer who was kneeling on the ground, his hands tightly bound behind his back, while another, much older man in western clothing was pleading angrily in Arabic for them to let him go.

Spotting Storm and Bishop, the man broke off, standing defensively in front of Kranmer, his hand resting on the young Agent's shoulder.

"Peace!" Storm called out, holding up both her hands. "Peace. What is going on?"

"They believe he is working for the Devil." The older man announced in clipped English.

Standing behind Storm, Logan let his claws slide out of his knuckles a few inches, letting his robe conceal them, and the wind seemed to pick up slightly more.

"Why do they think that?"

The old man sighed, his fingers tightening on the man's shoulder. "He attacked his partner and the man has since disappeared. They wish to carry out Tribe Law and execute him. They do not believe the other man was trying to hurt him."

Logan frowned, stepping past Storm. "Barry, who was with you?"

"Source. He went odd; started saying that Xavier was trying to destroy the world; that he was amassing an army that would kill all mutants not on his side. I don't know what he was going on about...then he had his knife in his hand and said that either I join with them, or I face the consequences. I went for him, but the villagers stopped me; they couldn't understand what I was saying...I managed to break away and chased him behind a tent...but he was gone. There was a full moon out, but I couldn't see him on the dunes...he completely disappeared. We've only been here a couple of days. I don't know-"

Storm approached the village elder, drawing him to the side as Logan stared Kranmer in the eye. "Did he mention Shadows?"

Kranmer shook his head. "No. He said something about someone called Ehecatl. I don't know, Wolverine, I wasn't really listening. I was concentrating more on the knife in his hand."

Paige and Apogee shared a side-long look, and everyone missed the shocked expression on the face of the man that had been trying to help Kranmer. "Why didn't he try to use his powers on you?" She asked softly, and Kranmer looked at her curiously.

"She's a Newbie?" When Logan nodded, he looked at her kindly. "It's kind of hard to manipulate water in the middle of a desert, isn't it? That's why we were here; Xavier heard that the water holes were drying up around here, and wanted to see if we could find anything underneath the sand that might help the locals. We didn't."

Off to the side, Storm was gesturing to the group, and Logan watched as the Headman's righteousness seemed to wane and he looked more thoughtful than murderous. Finally, Storm shook the man's hand and returned, gesturing for Kranmer to get to his feet. "You are free to go. I have explained what has been happening to him. He understands that you are a mutant, not a demon, and has asked that you continue to help his people find water. They will help to protect you if Source returns."

Kranmer stood with Bishops help and nodded, brushing the sand from his cargo pants. "Tell me what is going on, and I'll tell him what I'll do." Kranmer demanded, and the elderly man nodded.

"I too wish to know what the Mayan God Ehecatl has to do with this." He announced, his voice tinged with concern.

"He's an archaeologist...travelling with the tribe until they reach an old stone building they found last year." Kranmer supplied helpfully.

"Edwin Fielding." The man introduced himself with an incline of his head. "Now, what is going on?"

The Headman began to speak to Storm again, and she nodded, pointing to one of the tents. "He has offered us the use of his home to speak in." She murmured, already making her way towards it. "The sandstorm should reach us in about ten minutes or so. Paige, contact the Jet and tell them where we are."

Around them, the Bedouin were already beginning to secure their tents and livestock, and Paige hung back as the others went inside, taking out a small radio from the pocket of her robe. /Remy, do you read me?/

As she relayed what had just happened, she kept her eyes on the surrounding dunes as several men half-slid down them, rifles held carefully as they kept their eyes on their footing. Inside the Jet, Remy finished securing it for the oncoming sandstorm.

/Oh, and Remy, there's an Englishman here; goes by the name of Edwin Fielding. Can you contact the mansion and get them to start looking him up? He knew about Ehecatl...knew he's an Mayan God; since we've only found that out, it's a bit strange he happened to be here...and knows about it./

Remy nodded, already opening the frequency to the Mansion. /Understood./

/We're in one of the tents while Storm explains everything to Kranmer and Fielding. She says the sandstorm will hit in the next ten minutes or so/

Remy nodded and closed off the channel, quickly shutting all the vents and covered the engines before retreating back inside to call home.

XXXxxxXXX

Kitty closed the leather journal with a frown, setting it on the small stack in front of her. "Nothing." She shrugged and pushed them away from her. "How could one man write so much, and yet…nothing!"

Across the table from her, Heather shrugged, turning the last page on hers. "I don't know, but he's sure led one hell of an interesting life. He says here he got thrown in jail in Columbia for eight weeks because they thought he was a CIA agent…"

Kitty reached into her pile of journals and flicked through the front pages. "It turned out he wasn't the CIA agent, but one of the palaeontologists in the group was."

The clairvoyant's eyebrows shot up and she eagerly took the journal from Kitty, settling down to read. "His wife should publish these." She mused as she read the last notation on the ill-fated trip to Columbia. "It's like Indiana Jones…only real."

Kitty smiled and picked up the Journals, bringing them to where the boxes containing the artefacts sat. "I know what you mean; he could really write. It's a shame though; all that, and we got nothing."

"A lot of interesting stories about people…I guess our best bet would be to find one of the guys from the original expedition and question them…right? I mean, how hard can that be?" Heather stretched in her seat and yawned.

"Finding a bunch of men from an expedition that took place when Xavier was just a child; not hard at all!" Kitty replied with a false brightness, hoping against hope that that task would not be handed down to her. "After all, they could have moved fifteen times, decided to drop off the face of the planet, or even worse; died."

Heather winced. "Point taken."

Kitty murmured 'good' underneath her breath and gathered up the last of the journals, putting them back into order. They were just about to leave the room when Scott appeared, looking harried. A look that seemed to be more and more the norm for him.

"Kitty – oh good, you've finished, have you? Can you tell me if there's anything in there about Edwin Fielding?"

Kitty looked at him with disbelief, but Heather sighed. "Edwin Fielding; present on three of the digs I read about. Old friend, known DeNare a long time…went on his first dig. Why?"

Scott turned on his heel, calling over his shoulder "Kitty, would you start looking him up? I want a complete history. I have to get the jet ready to drop Jubilee and Violet off to Fury in Nevada." With that, he was gone, but Kitty stayed staring at the space where he'd been the disbelief not disappearing from her face.

"Why the hell is it always me?" She squeaked finally. "What am I? Some kind of tracker? Do I look like a blood hound?"

Heather picked up the old coffee cups and headed out the open door. "Maybe a little around the ears...You know what they say; get good at something and you make a name for yourself!"

XXXxxxXXX

Edwin listened to the wind howl around the tent, his mind not quite fully in the present. Storm's explanation had dredged up memories he had long buried, and he gripped the top of his walking stick tightly, twisting his hands around the heavy ebony and round cap. "And how do you know of the Orbs?" He asked finally when silence finally reigned.

"A man named Edward DeNare-" Storm began, but fell silent when Edwin looked up sharply.

"You have talked to him? He told you of this? Of our time in the Temples?" he sounded shocked, and Logan shook his head.

"He didn't talk to us about nuthin'. He sent the Orb to us for safe keeping. What we've learned, we've learned by reading the journals that his wife Esther gave us."

Eyes rheumy with age turned to stare at him. "Why on earth would he do that? Why would she give you his journals? Does he know?"

As Logan went to reply, Storm beat him to it. "Mr. Fielding…Mr. DeNare…Edward has passed away. He was killed by someone looking for the Orbs."

"My dear," Edwin began quietly, taking on an air of arrogance, "if Edward were dead, I would know. His wife would have told me. I have known Edward since we were eleven years old; we went through school together, and then later to University. Esther would have told me immediately."

"He was murdered." Logan growled, though not unkindly. "Slaughtered. The lady had enough on her plate tryin' ta deal with him dyin' without havin' to track you through a couple of million miles of desert. Now, are you gonna accept that, or do we have to run around in circles until the storm's over?"

Edwin drew up his chin in defiance, but firmed his lips and nodded. "If you say that Edward is dead, then I suppose for now I am forced to accept your word on the matter; but as soon as the storm dies down, I shall use my satellite telephone to contact Esther and sort this mess out."

Storm nodded, trying to restore peace to the already fragile atmosphere inside the tent. "Mr. Fielding…please, it may be very important; what happened inside the temple?"

"Lord Fielding." Edward snapped angrily. "And I swore a blood oath never to speak of what occurred in either temple. A man died because-"

"And more are dying now, and will continue to die if we do not get an answer." Apogee snapped, suddenly just as angry. "_We_ are losing _our_ friends and colleagues, and to be honest, I'm not going to stand by and listen to you spout on about oaths if you could help stop the killings. Got it?"

"And just what would you do to make me?" Fielding snapped childishly, and Apogee clambered to her feet, shedding her robe.

"I will bounce your goddamned bones around in your body until you gain some sense!"

Paige grabbed at her arm and yanked her back down onto the ground. "Easy, everybody. Lord Fielding; please, it may be very important; what happened inside the temple?"

"Death." The old man turned to stare into the fire, moisture dampening his cheeks as his resolve never to speak of it waned. "In the first temple…death happened. I'd almost managed to convince myself it wasn't real. Almost. But how can you forget the first time you meet the devil itself? No one talked of it afterwards…Not even Edward and myself. I do not know if he saw what I saw, or if he felt what I felt…but none of us were inclined to speak of it again. We buried a friend that day…some of us buried our innocence with him. Even the hardest of our lot was shaken."

They waited for him to continue, and to the side, the Headman of the Village was listening intently as Storm quietly translated what was being said.

"Was it really devil-like?" Hank asked quietly when it appeared that Edwin wasn't going to speak again, and the elderly man shook his head.

"I suppose not. The only things I can really tell you about that first temple were feelings. We were enveloped in utter darkness; a whispering sound rose up around us and raised the hackles on the back of my neck. Intense pressure pushed me down to my knees, and a violent wind struck up; inside, you understand; we were inside a sealed building. There was no way on earth that that could happen. All the lights we carried went out, and something spoke in our minds...without the benefit of using our ears. I felt His words in my bones. Charlie either did not hear it, or chose to ignore it. He proceeded to walk further into the darkness." Edwin closed his eyes as his knuckles turned white around the top of his walking stick. "It...He, Ehecatl, told us to get out. Then Charlie began to scream...we lost courage and ran. But I suppose you already know all of this if you read Edward's Journal?"

Hank nodded his eyes distant. "You sound as if you have done some research into this 'God'." He murmured, and Edwin nodded sharply.

"It may not have been the Devil, but it felt like it. I looked into everything I could find on the name Ehecatl when we returned to civilisation. I spent some time in South America in the 1960s researching him, and the Myths surrounding his name. Everything in general South American Mythology points to him being a benevolent God; associated with the wind; his breath makes the sun and the moon move through the sky...nothing untoward. However..." He drew in a deep breath, "Some years later, I was in Belize and my guide got us terribly lost in the jungle. We found a cave system to shelter in during a storm, and I found text carved into the rock. To pass the time until the storm abated I translated it. The synopsis is; He went bad. In fact, he may be the reason why the Mayan Empire fell. He turned on his fellow gods; took their worshipers from under their noses, turned them to his will; they were only a shadow of themselves...partly themselves and partly the Ehectl's puppets...so many wars were fought under his banner against those he could not turn. Their populations were decimated. In the end, he was forced by the gods that remained into his own temple, and a second was built around it, sealing him in place, covered in runes and symbols designed to keep him bound into his prison. Those that had opposed him hid, abandoning the humans that worshiped them so they could lick their own wounds and recover. The Mayans prayed to their gods, but their gods no longer answered. They continued to believe, but their reason to believe was gone. And in time, their mighty empire fell, and the Aztec empire, praying to the same forms of Gods as their ancestors rose in their place, the dream of the power that once was fuelling their beliefs."

"And when you went into the inner temple, you freed him." Paige murmured softly, a shiver running down her back.

"That is what we were told in Chalchiuhtlicue's temple, yes. She...where Ehecatl was darkness, she was light. In hindsight, it may not have been the best of ideas to enter yet another damned temple, but we did. And we were taken to task for our actions; innocent though they were."

"She gave you the orbs." Storm murmured, and he nodded.

"Yes; she gave us the orbs to take care of until the right time came. She told us that we would know when that would be."

"Why didn't they just put him back into his prison?" Apogee asked curiously, and Edwin smiled wryly.

"It took all of them to put him there in the first place. She was the strongest, and even then she was almost destroyed by him. They didn't have the power to destroy him. And he has had had a millennia to rest. She and the others were not resting; they were and still are continuing to heal."

"How come we're only seeing all this now?" Apogee wondered aloud, and Edwin sighed, tension seeming to drain away as he gave in to the inevitable. It had taken a lifetime for someone to talk to him about it, and he realised that now might be the time for their mistakes to be fixed.

"The world has changed a great deal since he was imprisoned. I believe he was biding his time until he knew exactly what he was going to do. And from what you have told us; he has worked out his plan and has put it into action. This world must be a goldmine to him now. Before he just had normal humans; now, he has mutants to take over and do his work. More power...more control...more to gain. He will enslave the entire earth before he is done."

"Do you know what the orbs are?" Paige asked quietly, her eyes wide with worry.

Edwin shook his head. "I do not; I know only that we were sworn never to lose them, or sell them or speak of them. When the time was right, they would come into their power."

Logan stayed quiet during this exchange, and finally looked at Storm. "The temple that Jubes an' Chuck an' Jono got lost in was Chalchiuhtlicue's place." He growled softly. "The display that Esther had up had pictures of the two temples. One was the one they were in. The second one was near where me 'n Jubes crashed the jet. She was ahead of me an' next thing was, she got real spooked. I heard nuthin' but she said somethin' told her to leave. Scared the life out of her. I never saw her so afraid before; wouldn't let us stay there a minute longer."

"She has good instincts then." Edwin murmured. "Better than ours were."

"Better than mine." Paige muttered under her breath. Logan heard her and snorted.

"Kids instincts are better than most at times."

The sand howled around them for a time as the tent went eerily silent; all lost in their own thoughts. Even the village elders were silent, wondering what was happening in the world outside their isolated existence.

"Do you think I'll be needed?" Barry asked finally, and Storm shook her head.

"I do not know."

Barry nodded slowly. "Tell the village elders that I'll stay then. I'm not a strong mutant, Storm. You know that. I can produce some water…not enough to make a difference in a fight. And I can sense water. Enough to make a difference here. If they'll promise not to kill me, I'll help them find new watering holes."

Storm nodded with a faint smile. "I will tell him you will stay. I believe they will be relieved. Ed…Lord Fielding, I know you are here looking for a recently discovered ancient structure…but you know so much about what we are facing. Aside from the fact you were actually there when this happened, you have done so much research on the matter-"

Edwin sighed and nodded. "I know what you are going to ask. I will come with you." He looked thoughtful and finally hefted his walking stick. "You will be going up against the devil himself. You may need this."

Logan cocked an eyebrow. "We got more things to beat him with than a piece of wood, Edwin."

The elderly man smiled queerly and placed his hand on the handle and twisted, removing the top of the stick. "She told us never to lose or sell it. I preferred to carry mine with me at all times." He held it out to her on the palm of his hand. "And I believe I am relieved to be handing care of it over to someone else. I never had children; I have no one else to pass it to. And I will repeat her words to me; Do not lose it, sell it or damage it."

XXXXXX

"Sell it? Who on earth would want to buy it?"

Scott snorted and glanced around the small, heavily shielded room and then back to the table in front of them where the orbs sat. Both were marbled stone; one was a muddy brown - the one Jubilee had found. The second was light grey, and was slightly smaller than the first.

"Jubilee owns a few ornaments like them…" Scott murmured quietly, ignoring the pointed look he got from Magneto.

"Any ideas?" Hank asked quietly, and Magneto shook his head.

"None. I feel nothing from them. For all the talk, they just appear to be small stone…balls."

"And yet, they have caused two deaths that we know of. And much, much more if they are truly linked to what is going on." The furry blue feral sighed and picked up Edwin's contribution. "I have a friend coming to look at them; analyse them properly. He is a geologist with the University of Cambridge."

Magneto glanced at him. "And you trust him?"

"With my life." Hank murmured softly, placing the orb onto its stand with a quiet click. "I trust Clifford Bellamy more than I trust you, Magneto. I do not say that to be harsh; but…I trust him. He is a gentle man. I cannot see him doing as others have done."

"And that is-?"

"From speaking with Logan regarding the dreams he has had, and your earlier description of Mystique's dream, they were all entreated to join the Shadow; that he knew the darkness in their hearts and souls; we have surmised that it is that darkness in their souls that drew him to them and gave him the ability to take them over. Clifford has never had a shred of darkness in his soul. Because of his mutation, he was brought up hidden from the world; his parents ensured he had a happy childhood, filled with love and he had friends that did not ridicule him for his appearance. I have seen him mourn the death of a fly." Hank smiled softly at the memory. "I do not believe there is anything for a shadow to grasp. And Charles and Jean will both scan his mind to see if there is anything amiss before we even tell him what is happening."

Magneto seemed to accept that and put his hand on the door handle. "Emma too?"

"Why?" Scott asked sharply.

"Charles and Jean are both…soft. Emma does not have qualms about rifling through someone's mind. She should be present."

Hank nodded in agreement. "I will put it to Charles. Vesper should be here in a few hours; we must be prepared for his arrival. I wish for the tests to begin immediately."

"Vesper?" Magneto frowned, trying to remember where he'd heard that name before. "Isn't that the man who went in front of the British Parliament and spoke for Mutant Freedom?"

Hank nodded with a wry twist to his lips. "And eventually persuaded them to change their laws concerning Mutant Rights. That Vesper was christened Clifford Bellamy."

XXXXX

Jubilee wasn't bored; she was more than bored. The mansion seemed empty. They'd come back to new guests on the run from friends and family, and the Mansion had never been so full. There were more than 50 newcomers, and they'd been packed two or three to a room. And then, just as suddenly, it was empty. As soon as darkness had fallen, Bobby had suggested that he and a few of the others go to Harry's Bar. And as soon as a 'few' had gone, others had followed. Including Paige, Violet, Monet, Logan…everyone.

Seated on a window seat, she closed her eyes and rested her head against the window frame.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Jean's voice broke her out of her daydreams and she stared up at the red-head guiltily. "They aren't worth a penny, Jean." She murmured, drawing her legs up so that the older woman could sit.

"Jubilee, sometimes I think your thoughts are worth your weight in gold. Now; what caused the heavy sigh I just heard?"

Jubilee smiled wanly, letting her head droop back onto the wooden frame. "Too many thoughts to name, Jean, along with extreme boredom. I'd go train, but Scott's declared that we can only train if there's more than one of us."

Jean's eyebrows narrowed. "Jubilee, that's always been the rule."

The teenager smirked. "For lesser mortals, maybe. It's always been more of a guideline for me. And you know that already. No, Scott's really put his foot down now. He doesn't want anyone in shadowy corners out of the way on their own; which I totally dig, you know, it's just…it doesn't help when you're bored and grounded, and everyone else is happily getting drunk down in Harry's. They didn't even…" She trailed off softly, her eyes going misty. "Never mind."

"Never checked to see if you were ok or wanted company for the night?" Jean guessed what was preying on Jubilee's mind and hit the nail on the head.

"Yeah. I guess. Don't mind me, Jean. I'm just being…selfish. The world doesn't revolve around me. And they're right to go off and have a little bit of fun. They're probably going to need it."

Jean screwed up her face sympathetically and sat down, looking out at the moonlit lawn. "I know what you mean. I don't think that this is going to end well."

Jubilee sighed again. "Yeah. So what did the new old guy have to say?"

"We're thinking about sending a team out to find the cave he was talking about. He seems to have a pretty good grasp of where it is."

Jubilee nodded. "Fair enough. Permission to not be on that team?"

Jean couldn't help the look of surprise that erupted. "Really? You're usually the one clambering for places on missions."

Jubilee shrugged and began to pick lint from her jeans. "To tell you the truth, I'm a little bit fed up with temples and jungles and things that go "I'm going to suck out your soul out with a bendy straw"in the dark."

Jean tugged her to her feet. "I think we need some hot chocolate. Storm's expecting me back with some soon. C'mon. We'll go up to her loft, have some girlie chat. We haven't done that in a long time."

Jubilee allowed herself to be propelled along to the kitchen, and soon found herself ensconced on a bed of pillows in front of the large floor to ceiling windows that looked out over the woods. Storm eagerly took the mug that Jean offered her, and looked at Jean expectantly. /What's wrong?/

/She needs some company./ Jean explained telepathically and took a sip from her mug. /Everyone left and didn't bother to see if she needed company./

"It's a pity that you don't want to go to the Jungle. We were hoping to put you on the team." She murmured as Jubilee settled back and the teen dropped her gaze down onto the cushions.

"Why me?"

"Because you are a valued member of the teams, Jubilee." Storm retorted, suddenly seeing why Jean had brought Jubilee along.

Jubilee snorted but smiled faintly. "Thanks guys. Like I said downstairs, Jean, don't mind me. I'm having a 'mopey' moment."

Storm smiled and took a sip of her hot chocolate. "I feel like we haven't sat down like this in forever." She murmured softly.

"How was Egypt?" Jubilee asked, enjoying the cool night breeze flowing in through the open windows.

"Hot; dry; dusty." Storm smiled. "But let's not talk about work. How long are you planning on keeping your hair long?"

Jubilee's nose scrunched up as she grinned and let out a gurgled laugh. "I don't know; thinking of chopping it off; what do you think?"

"I liked it short." Storm declared and Jean nodded.

"Me too. It's nice long, but it suits you short too. But not spiked like you used to have it…maybe circa Jubilee aged 16. I know you grew it to show you were getting older, but…it's nicer short."

They all laughed and as Storm moved her mug to her lips, a violent shock-wave rocked the mansion. Jean's eyes went distant for a moment, and she shot to her feet, her mug spilling its contents onto the ground.

"Jean?"

"I can't reach anyone. Charles and the others were in the room with the Orbs examining them." The red-head began to run for the door. The three of them ran for the lower levels; choosing to take the emergency stairwell instead of the lift, and emerged into the empty hall. Jean took point and Jubilee's eyes darted to and fro as she took in their surroundings, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that the lights above them were intact and still shining brightly. "Storm?"

Jean and Jubilee looked to the Weather Goddess for instruction and the Team Leader nodded.

"We stick together. Be wary. Jean; can you contact any of them yet?"

Jean nodded. "Warren is still in the control room; he's just regained consciousness. All of the monitors are down." They walked cautiously down the hall, Jubilee moving to take point as they approached the control room. The door was wide open and Warren was waiting for them, battle ready. He relaxed slightly when Jubilee walked in; hands blazing.

"What happened?"

Warren shook his head. "I don't know. Some kind of an explosion; a shockwave…it knocked me out briefly. The explosion took out the security cameras; the system is still up and running and we have audio alerts, but I can't use the screens. It's going through a start-up re-boot…it'll be five minutes before we have access again."

"Stay here." Storm ordered. "Lock the door. We will find out what happened."

Warren nodded and Jubilee continued down the hall, ready for trouble. Approaching a corner, she knelt down and sneaked a look, sucking in a breath when she saw the door at the end of the corridor had been blown out and was lying in the middle of the floor. "Jean…?"

/Proceed with caution./ Jubilee nodded and padded noiselessly down the hall, keeping close to the wall, enveloped in a telekinetic bubble of protection. Reaching the room, she looked inside and gaped.

"Jean! They're all still in here; unconscious!" She felt the bubble dissipate and hurried to Hank's side, her fingers digging through the fur on his neck in an effort to get to skin so she could feel for a pulse. Giving up, she pressed her ear against his chest and relaxed when she heard a reassuring thud. Leaving him where he was, she moved on to Emma as Jean crouched beside her husband and Storm checked Charles. Finding another pulse on Magneto, Jubilee moved on to Vesper who was lying by the wall and blinked at the sheer size of him; he was even bigger than Hank. Shaking her head to get rid of the image, she began her quest for a pulse, using his wrist instead of his neck as the fur was thinner there. She blew out a breath when she felt it and turned to look at Jean.

"Are Scott and the Professor ok?"

Jean nodded, stroking her husband's cheek as he moaned softly and tried to open his eyes behind his visor. "They're breathing. They were knocked out."

Seeing Magneto begin to rouse, Jubilee moved to stand but as she did, there was a flash of fur beside her and something closed tightly around her neck and began to shake her violently.

"Vesper!" Hank was barely conscious but his shout drew everyone's attention, and startled Vesper into looking at him. The Doctor was relieved to see that his friend's eyes were still their normal brown hue, and the hulking Feral looked down at his hand as if seeing it for the first time; his eyes widening as he saw that it was wrapped around a young girls neck.

"Henry?"

"Put her down." Hank warned worriedly. "Carefully, Clifford; she is not a threat."

Vesper gently placed her onto the tiles, his massive paws suddenly incredibly gentle. "I did not mean to…I was startled…" He stammered, well aware that the others were looking at him as if they were about to attack. Or rather; he was about to attack.

"Clifford…"

"You tell me that the world has gone insane; people are attacking each other for no reason; something blows up and I find a stranger standing over me; what would you have done!" He protested loudly as Hank struggled to stand, only to have to settle for crawling to Jubilee who had rolled over and was attempting to sit up; her hand gingerly touching the skin on her neck.

"Thanks for not smacking my head against the wall while you were at it." She grated out sarcastically.

"I'm so sorry..." Massive hands closed around her shoulders and pulled her up until she was sitting, her head only barely higher than his chest. "I truly did not mean to hurt you...I was disorientated." Big, liquid brown eyes shone with sincerity, and she found herself nose-to-snout with someone whose head was easily twice the size of hers.

"It's ok." She murmured, even though her head was still spinning from being shaken. "Uh...you can let go now."

Vesper blinked and let her go, murmuring another apology.

"What happened?" Jean asked, supporting Scott as he attempted to sit up.

Vesper cleared his throat. "We were attempting to take a sample of the stone. Then something...there was some type of a shock wave."

Behind him, Emma rolled onto her side and pushed herself into a sitting position, touching her fingertips to her temple as if she had a headache, her eyes screwed shut. Out of the corner of her eye, Jubilee watched her use the table to pull herself to her feet and followed suit.

"Ms. Frost, are you ok?"

Emma didn't answer, and Jubilee frowned, getting to her feet. "Emma?"

For years, Logan had been drilling into her how important it was to trust her gut, and to go with her feelings, and the second she saw Emma's hand reach for the orbs, she knew something wasn't right. "Emma?"

In the split second it took for Mystique's form to change from that of Emma to Sean, Jubilee was already running, but so was the shape-changer, and the facsimile of Sean's legs were longer and faster than hers as they sped out the door and down the hall. Jean and Storm were right behind her, leaving the others behind. As Mystique reached the elevator doors, she turned, and Jubilee slid into an open doorway just as a sonic wave passed, the air around her vibrating. It hit Jean and Storm dead on, and the two women fell to the floor, clutching at their heads as disorientation overwhelmed them. Jubilee left her hiding spot as the mind-numbing wave finished, just in time to see the elevator doors close, and she wrenched the door to the stairs open, taking them two at a time.

Bursting out into the main floor of the mansion, she spotted familiar blue skin headed towards the front door and put on a burst of speed, emerging out into the normally lit entrance of the mansion as the bulbs in the large, Victorian globe lights that lined the steps began to shatter, plunging the area in to darkness.

Unwilling to let the Taken disappear into the shadows with her prize, paffs flew from her hands to surround them, bathing the area with bright white light and hopefully cutting off her avenue of retreat. As their surroundings lit up, a pit opened in her stomach when she saw the mutants ranged around the steps, seemingly waiting for them.

Using her newfound powers, she sent orbs of crackling white light towards them and jumped for Mystique, landing on the woman's back sending them both crashing onto the steps.

As she drew her fist back to strike the blue skinned woman in the face she was happy to hear Bobby's familiar shout in the distance, and a vicious grin teased at her lips as her knuckles met with bone, producing a satisfying crunch as the shape-shifter's nose crumpled.

Hands closed on her shoulders and attempted to drag her off, only to be blasted back by a paff exploding. She barely managed to avoid having the bigger woman head butt her, and took a fistful of hair, using it to smack Mystique's head against the step. With the older woman suitably dazed, she grabbed the orbs out of her unresisting grip and finally took a look around.

It seemed that Bobby's first group to reach the bar were also the first crew to call it a night, and had seen Jubilee's paffs above the trees as they walked up the drive. Breaking into a run, Bobby let out another shout as he rounded the corner to find Jean, Storm and Warren pouring out of the front door, while Jubilee was being repeatedly run into the balustrade of the steps as she attempted to hold a struggling Mystique in a combination head and arm lock.

It was Warren that disentangled Jubilee from her quarry, and he took off with the struggling shape shifter, his wings beating powerfully at the night sky until he reached what he judged to be a sufficient height. Tackling the problem with clinical thoroughness, he let go and watched her fall towards the mansion lawn, knowing that she had the ability to save herself if she were that way inclined. He kept an eye on her as her form rippled, and grimaced as a Southern whoop rang in the air, and Rogue joined the fight, making a beeline for the woman who was now her doppelganger.

Back on the steps, having knocked him out easily, Jubilee perched on top of Thunderhead's back, crouching on the balls of her feet, one hand resting on one of the orbs she had stuffed in her pockets. Her eyes ranged around the ever-expanding group of fighters, noting the squeal of tyres as more of the drinkers from Harry's arrived, bringing with them welcome relief from the increasing tide of Taken.

A quiet curse crossed her lips as she saw Mystique point towards her and Ben Grim set out towards her. /Jean? I got the orbs back and they know it!/

The telepath gave a curt nod and looked to the front door where Scott and Beast were emerging, Magneto barely able to keep on his feet behind them.

/Pass them off to Bobby/

Jubilee nodded and used Thunderbird as a spring board to sail over Tigra's head, taking off down the lawn as if the hounds of hell were after her. Behind her, Tigra dragged Thunderhead to his feet and pushed him towards the steps, pointing up into the air to where Storm had taken position, searching for the sky for unwanted airborne guests. Above them all, the starry night sky began to darken and cloud over, obscuring the bright moon, and soon it was only the flashes of powers and Jubilee's light paffs that lit the area.

She had to concentrate to keep the area lit, and it was only because she knew what was going on that she could keep track of where the orbs were going. She'd managed to pass them to Bobby before being chased by Ben Grim, but lost him when Vesper waded into the fight and picked him up, tossing him into a bush. He gave Jubilee a quick wink before letting out a roar that would strike fear into a lesser man. His bright eyes spotted Sabretooth and marked him as a worthy adversary and he tore into the fight with a happy glint in his eye. For a gentle man, he did like to let loose every once in a while.

Bobby ended up passing the orbs to Scott, who in turn had to pass them to Rogue when Blazestone targeted him. Rogue passed them to Hank, and soon Remy found himself slipping them into Jubilee's pocket as he brushed past her, and she growled when she felt the orbs weigh down her jeans.

Sliding beneath Ben Grim's legs, she turned and blasted him hard; sending him crashing into the ornamental fountain, hoping Charles would forgive her as it broke into pieces. As she clambered to her feet, she allowed the plasma of her powers to engulf her body, judging that if no one could touch her, then they couldn't get the orbs.

Above them, Storm and Thunderhead grappled with each other as the air around them swirled with currents, making it difficult for the other aerials to stay airborne. Lightning crackled around them and finally a bolt broke loose, headed for the ground. Jubilee looked up as her hair stood on end and the air around her charged with electricity. The bolt lanced towards her and as Logan, Sean and Bob arrived on the scene, it seemed to connect with her head, throwing arcs of electricity and plasma around her like a crackling storm, her scream that of raw emotion as she became a conduit for the power the elements were now channelling through her. The split second that a normal bolt of lightning would take to strike and dissipate elongated and turned into seconds, and then what felt like minutes as the storm borne of two mutants powers continued to pour its fury into her. When the realisation hit her, she opened her eyes and saw the electricity running through her veins, and looking up, she realised that everything was faintly outlined by a minute trace of electricity; from blades of grass to the tallest trees, each leaf visible as a skeleton; the veins and threads of fibres each earning their own lines of faint white light.

Closing her eyes again, she gritted her teeth as her head felt like it was going to implode from the pressure, and realised that she could do more than see the electricity; she could feel it too, and more than that, it seemed to connect her to every living thing around her. It ebbed and flowed with the movements of those fighting; a contaminated feel from those who were Taken, making her skin crawl.

Logan stood helpless at the tree line as Jubilee was overwhelmed by the lightning, momentarily obscuring her from his sight before it vanished, and she slowly crumpled to her knees, breathing hard. She disappeared from view for a moment, and when the tide of battling mutants moved, she had vanished.

Trotting through the fighting, he struggled to find her scent, throwing people aside, not caring if they were Taken or not. When he reached the scorched earth where she had been, he was rebuffed by an invisible force, and frowned, ignoring the fighting around him as he rubbed his hand over the surface.

"Stop that!" A voice hissed, and he realised it was Violet. "She's got _them_ and she's not exactly with it right now!"

Logan nodded curtly, realising that Violet had used her powers to turn them both invisible, and turned his back on her. "Keep her safe, Parr." He growled, and spotted Sabretooth grappling with Vesper in the distance. Trusting her to keep them both out of harms way, he left them, and Violet looked down at the shaking girl she was touching as she blinked rapidly, looking as if she was about to throw up, while tears streaked down her face.

"Jubilee?"

There was no answer, and she came to a decision, half dragging the younger teenager to her feet and guiding her towards the mansion itself. The terrace in front of the Mansion was clear of fighting, and she let Jubilee sink back down onto the ground once they were between two of the large decorative flower urns that ringed the front of the house. "Jubilee are you ok?"

She'd seen the girl get hit by lightning, which had scared the life out of her, and had been surprised to find her still alive when she'd reached her. A quick check to see if she was injured had revealed one of the orbs in her pocket, and tentatively reached out for a telepath to ask what to do. Jean hadn't even let her finish her sentence or mention the orbs, and had ordered her to keep them both hidden and protected. And that was what she was going to do.

From her vantage point, she could see the battle raging, and she sank down beside Jubilee, pulling the shaking girl into her arms. She worried even more when Jubilee turned into her, hiding her face against Violet's jacket.

Violet increased her grip, looking around to see how things were going. The ratio of Taken to non-Taken seemed quite even, especially now that the rest of those staying at the mansion were arriving, and she began to try to find those she knew, spotting Dash easily as he zipped around between the fighters, helping where he could. Her father was grappling with The Thing, while a Feral Mutant with tan fur that she didn't know was pinning Sabretooth to the ground as Logan hurried towards them.

"Just keep the lights on, ok Jubilee?" She asked quietly, and Jubilee's grip tightened on the fabric of her jacket. She was reassured slightly when the light of the orbs, which had been steadily fading since the lightning strike, began to increase again and she sighed, biting at her lip.

Finally, the Shadow Taken began to retreat, leaving their dead behind them. Jean looked around wildly as the last of them disappeared, and squinted in the dim light of the paffs, looking for any of their own that were lying on the ground unmoving. Some were on the ground, but were sitting up, or moaning softly. She quickly found Scott, who gave a solemn nod to tell her he was alright as he checked the dead to see who had been killed.

"Jubilee!" She called out, and beckoned to Storm and Rogue. "Find Jubilee. She has the orbs, and I think Violet is with her. I need to help Hank." Rolling up her sleeves, she began to help those that were injured; though none seemed too serious.

"Jubilee? Sugah, where are you?" Rogue called out loudly, cupping her hands around her mouth. "Jubes? Violet?"

Violet had buried her head into Jubilee's hair tuning out the sounds of the battle, but hearing her name being called, realised that the Shadow Taken had fled, and with a heavy sigh, she let the shields and their invisibility drop.

"We're here!"

Storm shared a look with Rogue, and the invulnerable mutant took to the air, heading straight for them as Storm turned her attention to helping with the wounded. "Everything alright?" She asked in her Southern drawl, and Violet shook her head.

"No. Really no!"

Rogue frowned and knelt, reaching out with gloved hands to palm Jubilee's head. "Jubilee? Sugar, can you hear me?" When she got no answer, she looked up at Violet sharply. "What happened?"

"She got hit by lightning; look." She tilted Jubilee's head towards her, showing the reddened area of skin underneath the hair. Rogue nodded, seeing the damage, but the effect of the lightning strike on the seventeen year old's hair had worried her more. The raven's wing sheen was still there, but strands of white were mingled with it.

"What's her heartbeat like?" Rogue was suddenly all business, and Violet blinked, suddenly remembering that the woman in front of her couldn't touch anyone with her skin for fear of killing them. Pressing two fingers against Jubilee's neck she was reassured by the beat.

"It's pretty fast, but it's regular. She could stand and walk with help. I dunno, she's pretty out of it."

Rogue looked over her shoulder, spotting that all the qualified medics were busy with more seriously injured people. "Listen sugah, I'm gonna get someone to come up here and sit with you, ok? I can't do anything to help her. She don't seem hurt, so you'll be fine. Just stay put until someone can take a look at her."

Violet sighed as Rogue took to the sky again, and turned Jubilee's head again until she was snuggled into her jacket. "Just keep the light going, Jubilee. There's people hurting out there and they need to see what's going on to help."

She got no reply, but the light increased, and by the tree line, Logan looked up at the nearest one and felt a weight lift off his shoulders. "Logan?"

"Nuthin'." He grunted, tearing another strip from Bobby's donated shirt. He wrapped it around Bob's arm, stemming the flow of blood. "Jubes an' Vi are together. The lights are shining brighter is all; the Kid's are fine."

Dash sighed and looked around, searching for Violet. "Go find her, Dash; tell her we're ok." His father ordered, and it was all he needed to zip off, looking for his big sister.

He found her wrapped around Jubilee on the terrace and slowed to a walk as he approached them. "Vi?"

"It's ok, Dash. She's just a little…" Violet swallowed and looked up at him worriedly. "I dunno. Weird."

"We've know that since we met her." He quipped, sitting down tiredly beside her. Together, they settled down to wait for someone to come get them, and Dash finally let his eyes close, giving in to exhaustion born from the run of his life.

XXXXX

She drifted….the pain, the sorrow, it buffeted her from all sides, but still, she drifted. Her mind felt like a leaf in a hurricane as the connection to the world around her pulsed. Since the lightning had stopped, she could no longer see the electricity, but the connection was still there. There was Remy, his head hurting, his arm hurting…there was Logan, cuts and bruises and damaged internal organs knitting themselves back together as he bandaged Bob Parr…there was Bobby, bent over a woman she didn't know, his back aching and his calf screaming in agony from a misstep over a rabbit hole…there was a woman she couldn't identify with half her leg missing, crying as Bobby bent over her, holding her hand as her last few moments sped by…there was Hank, tears streaming down his face as he closed the eyes of the last person he had fought; eyes that were finally clear yellow and not black…there was Sean, helping Paige stand…on and on her mind identified people and injuries, feeling the electrical forces ebb and flow, flare and fade out as people passed on to the next life, and all the while she felt Violet's comforting hold; the only thing anchoring her in place.

It felt like a lifetime before another, more familiar presence replaced Violet's, and she turned into it, shuddering at the touch that seemed to electrify her.

"Violet; get Jean or Charles." Emma ordered sharply, not knowing what was wrong with the girl, but the shudder that ran through the tiny body at her touch worried her. Violet shot to her feet and ran away, leaving her alone with Dash who was still sleeping soundly. Seizing the opportunity, she removed the orbs from Jubilee's pockets, slipping them into her own for safekeeping, and tried again to get through her mental shields.

She was frowning when Charles arrived with Violet in tow, and his expression immediately mirrored her own. "Emma?"

"I don't know, Charles. Help me get inside her mind."

Charles's eyebrows shot up at the demand, but he reached out with his mind and together they sought a chink in the unyielding shields. Finally, he found the weakest place and struck at it, drawing away as it made no impression. Feeling Emma join him, they struck together and felt the shield waver.

/Jean, help us./ he ordered, and across the lawn, Jean put down a bandage, blindly obeying the urgent request. As one, the three of them struck and were suddenly drawn into her mind like a leaf in a whirlpool.

Violet stepped back as Emma gasped in shock and Charles stumbled to his knees, his hand clutched to his head. Already kneeling, Jean bent in two, her arms wrapped around her middle as she was assaulted by the pain around her. She pulled herself out of Jubilee's mind with difficulty, and stayed as she was, gasping for breath.

Charles followed her out; unable to take the pain any longer, but Emma tightened her grip and fought against the tide, intent on helping her.

"Professor?" Violet asked worriedly as Charles gathered himself together and wiped the sheen of sweat from his face.

"She can feel everyone's pain…she is connected in some way to everyone…" He murmured softly, his eyes troubled. "Even the rabbits in their burrows."

"The lightning?"

Charles looked at her curiously as the nausea began to fade away. "Lightning?"

"She got hit by lightning. Jean told me to hide her after that 'cos she has the orbs."

/Emma?/

/I heard her/ came the short reply, and Charles stood, his attention already back on the others.

"Emma will help her. Stay with them in case she needs anything."

Violet looked as if she were about to cry, but knelt back down beside them as Emma slowly drew away, her face troubled.

"Jubilee!" The sudden shout made the Super jump back, and she opened her mouth in outrage as Emma slapped Jubilee's cheek hard enough to leave a red imprint. She gripped Jubilee's face, placing her lips beside Jubilee's ear to shout her name again.

"I don't think-"

"She's stuck in there." Emma snapped, her eyes flashing angrily. "I need to break her attention away from what's going on around us. Telepathy is hurting her. The longer I stayed in her mind, the more it hurt her. She is connected to everything, and I can't get her attention long enough to help her turn whatever the hell is going on off!"

"Dump her in the fountain?"

She got a scathing look in reply and shrugged helplessly. "I don't know what else would help."

Emma unconsciously began to rock Jubilee in her arms as she racked her brains for a way to shock the girl, and finally as people began to trickle back to the mansion, she got awkwardly to her feet, still holding Jubilee.

Walking past the others, she kept her head held high until she reached the shattered remnants of the fountain and unceremoniously dumped the catatonic girl into it. After a long few seconds, she grabbed her by her hair and dragged her to the surface when she realised Jubilee was in danger of drowning. Across the lawn, Logan shot to his feet when he saw the rough treatment Jubilee was getting, and hurried towards them, murder in his eyes. He slowed to a stop when Emma gently laid her onto the grass and started shouting and shaking her shoulder.

"Frost, you better have a damned good reason-" He began angrily, but stopped when the scent of fear and worry hit his sensitive senses. Though Emma looked blithely unconcerned, she was actually probably more upset than he was.

She clinically laid out the problem to him, and he winced, his jaw hanging slack as he stared down at her. "Can't you do anything?"

Emma shook her head. "Going into her mind brings her even more pain than this is causing her. Besides, I would not be able to enter again without at least Charles and Jean assisting."

Logan looked around; Violet and Dash were standing a few feet away, watching the proceedings worriedly. The lawn was now practically empty of people as those who weren't injured assisted those that were off the grass and into the relative safety of the Mansion.

"Hank and Jean are helping with Tigra. She's badly injured, and the Shadow seems to have left her eyes." Logan announced gruffly. "I dunno where Chuck is."

"What happened to Tigra?" Emma asked curiously, and Logan crouched down to pick Jubilee up.

"She tried to claw out my eyes..." He grumbled, and set off across the lawn, holding his soaking wet protégé against his chest. At the top of the steps, he hesitated and looked around before called out to Emma; "The lights?"

"Do you want to be sitting in the dark tonight?" Emma answered acerbically.

"If it's hurtin' her to keep it up, then yeah." He shot back, and Emma shook her head.

"I don't know if we can get through to her to turn them off."

Logan lifted Jubilee slightly higher, and placed his lips beside her ear. "Darlin', it's Logan; if you need to let go of the lights, let go."

The paffs surrounding the lawn exploded, and he turned his back on the riot of colour they emitted, making his way into the large reception room just past the front door. It was filled with people, and he judged that most of the uninjured had gathered there. A glare at those sitting on a couch made them move, and he gently placed her onto the cushions, using his fingers to sweep her hair away from her face, frowning at the white strands.

"What's happened to her?" Tradewind asked curiously, and Logan sighed as Violet tried to explain.

"What's wrong with her?" A woman in a black leather cat-suit asked. Around them, as if looking for a distraction against what had happened, the others began to turn their attention towards them.

"Girl got hit by lightning." A black woman with an afro announced, taking out her earrings. "I saw it; girl just stood there and took it. Probably stopped it hitting everybody else. I seen programmes on the TV where if lightning hits, it takes out everything around it. I seen it take out all the players on a football field."

Emma stood behind the couch so she could look down at Jubilee. The teenager was staring at the ceiling, her eyes unfocused. "She can feel every bit of pain around her." She announced, wondering if someone in the room would be able to come up with an idea to help. "We think the lightning activated a part of her powers that makes her more aware than usual. We can't turn it off."

"Can't you just..." Tradewind wiggled his fingers at her to indicate the use of her powers, but Emma shook her head.

"She has powerful mind-shields. It took myself, Xavier and Jean Grey to break through them earlier. I cannot get her attention long enough to help her."

"Is it because of the lightning, or is it telepathic?" A voice announced from the doorway, and Logan looked up to see Magneto watching them curiously.

"I think it is because of the lightning. Not quite telepathically based, but it is tapping into that ability. I dread to think what would have happened if she were more talented in that area." Emma mused, turning her attention back to Jubilee.

"Try her in a Faraday Cage. It is designed to stop electromagnetic pulses. It may help."

"Would it hurt her?" Violet asked carefully, and Magneto shook his head.

"It is just a simple metal mesh cage."

Tradewind stood up and straightened his torn shirt. "Any volunteers to look around and find wire mesh?"

A couple of men nodded and followed him out the door, headed for the sheds and outhouses behind the mansion. "We'll get back as quickly as we can."

"We'll be down in the base." Emma advised him, indicating to Logan to pick her up again.

"Mags, you know how to build one of these cage things?" Logan asked as he picked her up again, and the white haired man nodded, turning to lead the way downstairs.

XXXXX

It was the sound of hammering that drew Charles away from the observation window to the operating theatre. He followed it down the hall and found Logan sitting on the floor holding Jubilee in his arms, watching Tradewind hammer two long pieces of wood together, while Magneto and a man that looked oddly like Sam Guthrie were examining the wire mesh from several screen doors.

"What's going on?"

"We're building a cage to see if we can block out..." Logan frowned and looked at Magneto.

"Electromagnetic forces. It is worth a try." Magneto supplied, handing the wood back to Sam Guthrie's cousin.

Charles looked torn for a moment, but Emma pointed back to the door. "It can wait if this works. If it doesn't then we will have to try to sedate her, but I don't think that will help."

Charles was about to answer when Bishop called out to him with his mind, telling him that Nick Fury was on his way in. "Let me know." He called out over his shoulder as he hurried away.

Logan held Jubilee close as if his life depended on it. He didn't like the way things were turning. Everything that was happening seemed to be hitting her, either directly or indirectly, and as the sound of sawing filled the room, he idly wondered if it was because she'd been in the temple.

/If that were so, then Charles and Chamber would also be exhibiting the same tendencies to get injured/ Emma dragged a stool over and sat beside him, reaching out to touch her hair. /I think she just attracts trouble. She likes to be held, doesn't she?/

Logan didn't blink at the change of topic, and nodded slowly. /Always has; since I've known her, anyhow. Used to go to sleep in the desert with her in my arms. Then later, when we got back here, I'd wake up every once in a while to find her asleep on top of my blankets, her arms wrapped around me. She likes hugs/

/You thought I was going to hurt her outside, didn't you/

Again, Logan nodded. /Only fer a minute. Sometimes I forget you care about the kids that much. You don't show it; it's easy to miss. But I know you'd never purposely hurt her/

/She's mine/ Emma stated, her chin raising. Across the room, Magneto realised there was a silent conversation taking place, and rolled his eyes. /She, Angelo and Jonothan. They are all mine. Paige, Monet and Everett have their own families to varying degrees. They are my students. But Jubilation...she has nobody/

/She's got me an' every other X-Man/ Logan shot back angrily, his eyes narrowing as a smile curled her lips.

/I understand that. But she has no blood claim on her. Therefore, she is my charge, and she is mine. And yours, and Gambit's and everyone elses. But she is also mine. Do you understand?/

It almost surprised him, but he did. They fell silent as the frame was quickly completed, and Magneto made sure that all of the metal screens were completely covering it. Emma placed salvaged rubber bath mats on the base and slid Jubilee into it; there was just enough space for someone to sit upright or lie lengthways. "I will stay in here with her." She announced, flicking her hand at Magneto to seal them in. There was barely enough room for both of them, and Logan began to growl.

"Can you contact her telepathically? No? I thought not." Emma snapped back, though it was more through habit than aggression or malice. "Magneto, seal us in."

Using his powers, Magneto closed up all the edges, effectively sealing them in and completing the make-shift Faraday Cage. The moment the last edge melded together, Jubilee collapsed against Emma limply, gasping for breath.

"Jubilee?"

"It's quieter..." Came the grateful whimper, and she grabbed fistfuls of Emma's jacket as the world slowly began to fade away to a quiet throb in the background. "Oh god, I never want to go through that again..." She blinked rapidly and finally lifted her head, looking around her. "What...?"

"It's shielding you from what's happening. What _is_ happening, Jubilee?" Emma put a finger underneath her chin and tilted her face upwards.

"... I could feel everybody's pain..." She closed her eyes and paled as she remembered the initial agony. "People are dying an' I can feel it...Emma, it hurts..."

"Jubilee, do you know how to turn it on again?"

"It's not off..."

"Well then, let's see if we can turn it off."

Emma closed her eyes and brushed against her mind, silently asking to be let in. The moment she broached Jubilee's shields, the teenager cringed, tears coming to her eyes as pain assaulted her. Emma moved to pull out again, but Jubilee clamped her hands around the older woman's wrists, silently telling her it had to be done.

Outside the cage, Logan drew in a long, troubled breath and leant against the wall as he settled down for the wait. Magneto left after a few minutes to find Charles and Fury, and having nothing better to do, Thunderhead and Mike Guthrie settled down on the far side of the cage.


	15. Getting a Grip

**This is a repost of the last chapter. I was completely unhappy with the last version, and should never have posted it. I apologise for the inconvenience. If you do not wish to read it, I'll do a very short recap at the bottom of the page outlining the changes *. I would really recommend reading the changes if you are going to skip ahead, otherwise you will be confused. I'm still not 100% happy with it, but its as good as its going to get! **

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It was nearly midday by the time Charles realised he hadn't seen Heather or Edwin since he'd ordered them to hide, and he sighed heavily as he stood, drawing Fury's attention as he talked with Scott about plans to move the Orbs away from the mansion.

"Something I need to know about?" He asked sharply, and Charles shook his head, his tiredness beginning to show.

"Heather and Edwin; I told them to hide at the beginning of the battle. I had better find them and reassure them that everything is ok again." He hurried out of the room, searching the mansion with his mind. He eventually located Heather's mind in the attic and realised that they had gone as far away from the battle as they possibly could.

As he walked through the base on the way to the elevator, he briefly looked into the room holding Jubilee and Emma, a tired, worried frown on his face when he realised that no one had moved. Sam's cousin was asleep with his head on Tradewind's shoulder, and Logan was staring moodily at the wire mesh box.

"No change?"

"No change." Came the gruff reply, and Logan glanced up at him. "What's going on?"

"The orbs will be moved away from here. It has been decided that the mansion will be designated as a safe house for non-civilian mutants and families that are in danger. SHIELD are already creating safe bases for civilian mutants under threat. They will also house the main base of operations." He sighed again, leaning against the doorframe. "Heather Hudson and Captain Britain are pushing to inform their governments about what is going on. Fury has also suggested reading in our President...it will have to be discussed more."

Logan grunted, and turned his attention back to the cage. As Charles turned to leave, he finally asked; "Chuck...what happens if Jubes can't turn this thing off?"

Charles considered his words carefully before replying. "Then she will either learn to live with it and control it...or not."

"Whaddya mean, not?"

"Logan...one of the reasons why there are so few powerful telepaths is that many are unable to control the barrage of thoughts and sensations that hit them when they come into their mutations. Some are branded as schizophrenics and locked away in institutions; others...others lose their minds completely and shut down. And some take their own lives when they realise that they cannot live like that. She may not be a telepath, but what she is experiencing is quite similar."

He didn't miss the quiet expletive that flowed from Logan's lips, and he walked away, leaving the feral to watch over his surrogate daughter.

When he reached the attic, he found Heather sitting with her back against the wall, Edwin's body cradled in her arms. Dried tear tracks on her cheeks told a tale of their own, and she didn't stir when he called her name, nor did she react when he crouched down beside her. He shook her arm gently and she finally looked up at him; dazed horror in her eyes.

"He just…he just went down….like a sack of potatoes. His heart…" She looked down at his face as if just realising what had happened, and closed her eyes, her forehead grazing his hair. "We were dead before we hit the ground. Our heart stopped…"

"Our?" Charles caught the verbal slip and she shivered.

"It's horrible, Charlie." Her voice cracked and broke, and fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. "I couldn't do anything…but we took everything from him. We took everything…"

Charles drew in a deep breath, and reached out to close the older man's eyes. Heather had made a great sacrifice by absorbing Edwin's memories in his final moments, and he gently eased the body away from her, covering him with a dust sheet. He brushed gently against her mind and realised that there seemed to be a quiet war going on between three minds; Edwin, her mother and her Grandmother. Heather was still in control, but he knew she would have to give herself time to reassert order in the chaos. She stood stiffly with his assistance and allowed him to guide her away from the attic, not really noticing as he settled her into her bed and drew the sheets up around her. A quiet word with Scott organised the removal of the man's body, and Destra and Teenuck took one of the jets and brought him back to Egypt; it would be no use trying to explain why the archaeologist had been found dead in a mansion in New York State instead of in a tent in Egypt.

XXXXX

The world was swirling around Emma, and still, Jubilee clung to her, both physically and mentally. And Emma completely understood why. The brief amount of time she had spent inside her mind on the terrace had shown her.

"Come on." Emma murmured again, trying to get Jubilee to cooperate. She didn't like the image Jubilee was projecting of herself, and she held out her hand to the little girl in pigtails and dungarees. The little girl nodded her tear-streaked face and stood, taking her hand. "There is no need to be afraid."

"I'm not afraid of you. I'm afraid of them…" The little girl looked around at the swirling ghosts and shuddered, her grip on Emma's hand increasing. "They are hurting me. You are hurting me. I want it to stop and it won't…"

XXXXX

Hank looked almost upset as the SHIELD medics hovered around his med-lab, but he knew that he would never be able to cope with the amount of injuries that had happened the night before. Too many lacerations to stitch; too many broken bones to set. At least they seemed impressed with his set-up, and one tech was already examining one of his machines to see how it worked.

Tigra had her own dedicated medical team that were hovering over her; along with a soldier with a machine gun watching her closely for any movement as her healing factor began to accelerate, taking care of the worst of her wounds.

/Henry; please, go and rest/ Charles ordered finally from his study, feeling the unrest coming from his friend in waves.

/In a moment/ came the reply, and Hank smiled faintly, feeling the knowing amusement coming from the telepath. Walking out into the hall, he was saddened by the sight of more soldiers, all standing alert and ready for attack. He followed them down the hallway until he realised there was a cluster of men around one door, and looking inside, he found a strange metal cage in the centre of the room. Logan was sitting against the wall, his arms folded firmly across his muscled chest, and an unlit well chewed cigar in his mouth.

"Logan…?"

Tired eyes met his, and the Canadian shrugged. "Frost and Jubilee are in there; the kid got hit by lightning. It set off some kind of latent telepathic mumbo jumbo about electromagnetism and I don't know what the hell else. Chuck said she could lose her mind if she doesn't get a handle on it."

"And the soldiers?" Hank eased past the two men standing at the door, and sat beside him, drawing his knees up to his chest.

"The orbs are in there with them; Jubilee had them when the shit hit the fan. Didn't think to take them away from her before they went in there."

Hank sighed and nodded, letting his head droop downwards until his chin was resting on his knees. "They really think she could lose her mind?"

"She can feel everyone around her. She…she felt people die." Logan rubbed his face tiredly. "Everybody's pain…it overwhelmed her. She only calmed down when she got into that cage. And even then she can still feel it."

Hank stared at his taloned claws for a minute, thinking hard, and slowly got back to his feet. "I will check and see if there is anything in her last examination that would-"

"No you won't; you'll go to bed." Jean ordered from the doorway, crooking her finger at him. "I've slept, Charles has slept; everyone's slept but you. Now go; or do I have to get someone to escort you to your room? I will keep an eye on Tigra. Please, Henry."

The doctor nodded tiredly and left the room with no argument, ignoring the soldiers as they watched him leave. "Logan, you should sleep too." She murmured, sliding down the wall until she was sitting beside him.

"I had a cat-nap." He growled, putting the cigar back into his mouth. "How's Tigra?"

"Holding her own. Any movement?" She gestured to the cage, and Logan shook his head.

"Nuthin'. How long….?"

"I couldn't begin to guess, Logan."

"She's in pain…" Logan muttered, and Jean was surprised to see the glint of a tear in his eye, though it was quickly blinked away. "Kid's in pain and I can't help her. Even if she was outta that cage, I couldn't help her."

"Logan; I couldn't help her in or out of that cage either. I hate to say it, but Emma is her best chance right now of beat-" She broke off as part of the bottom of the cage was kicked out and Emma's face appeared, looking exhausted, sweat sticking her hair to her head.

"A little help please." She asked icily, and Logan lurched to his feet, pulling at the mesh until it was open enough for her to crawl out. "Seal it up again." She ordered, and the cigar dropped from his mouth.

"You didn't fix her?"

"She will have to fix herself." Emma replied shortly. "It is hurting her too much for me to stay there any longer. Now; seal her back in…Logan!" Emma resisted the urge to pound her fist on the ground as he crawled inside, pulling Jubilee onto his chest, and Jean hid a smirk, using her telekinesis to seal the metal fibres back together.

"Let him be; he's going crazy out here not knowing how she is. And who knows; it might help her."

Emma bit off a growl and attempted to stand, only to slide back down onto the ground. It took Jean and one of the soldiers to get her upright, and she swayed as she attempted to walk with their assistance. "I have the Orbs-"

"We'll take them straight to Charles once we have you in bed." Jean cut in firmly. "You are more than dead on your feet, Emma."

The telepath sighed but didn't have the strength to retort either verbally or mentally, and silently allowed them to help her up to her room, escorted by a squad of soldiers

XXXXX

"You are going to South America now?" Jean asked with surprise as Scott zipped up the jacket of his heavy-duty leather uniform.

"Afraid so; Fury is a little bit antsy with the fact that Edwin is gone, and the orbs are currently out of his reach." He shrugged the leather into place and smiled as she tugged the bottom of it down. "He had a minor hissy fit when Charles _and_ Magneto refused to let him disturb Emma and Jubilee. Up until the point where Magneto pointed out that Jubilee's sanity might be at stake. Charles agreed to the mission now rather than later to get him out of our hair. He wants this done before Heather is forced to deal with what happened with Edwin. We have a narrow enough window to get it all done, and he doesn't know how long it will take Heather to take charge of the other personalities she's absorbed." He took a deep breath and lifted his arms to rub hers, pressing his forehead against hers. "You are tired; you should go sleep."

"I'm no more tired than you." She tilted her head and kissed his lips before drawing away, hooking her arm through his as they walked out of the locker room towards the hanger bay. "Take care of yourself down there."

He stopped as the doors to the hanger opened, and cupped her cheek with his palm, kissing her again. By the large SHIELD troop transport, Charles was finishing his briefing with Fury and the soldiers that had gathered, and Sam, Sean, Jono and Kitty were listening intently. Sitting on the wheel of a small mini-jet, Heather was staring at her feet, a look of sadness and concentration on her face.

"Jubilee will be so mad she missed this." He murmured as they drew away, conscious of the fact that a number of soldiers were now staring at them.

"No; she won't. She specifically said she didn't want to go on this mission. She doesn't want to encounter any more 'brain suckie things'."

Scott snorted and headed for the jet, turning to walk backwards so he could keep her in sight as long as possible. "Take care of yourself." He called out as the soldiers began to file into the vehicle. Jean held up her hand and nodded as he disappeared inside, worry filling her as the transport's engines began to fire up.

XXXXX

The transport landed heavily, crushing the undergrowth and several small trees growing in the clearing, and Heather winced, getting slowly to her feet as the lines of troops rushed out of the opening ramp. Fury approached her with his gun hanging across his chest at the ready, both hands firmly in place. "You're gonna stick back with Summers and the others." He glanced over at Diablo, who began to fit a small headset around his ear. "When we need you, you come up front."

Heather rolled her eyes, and took a headset from another soldier; quickly fixing it in place and moving to Scott's side. "We know, Colonel. You explained this already."

Fury grunted and hurried down the ramp to his waiting men who were ranged around the clearing on one knee, their rifles pointing at the dense undergrowth. The one thing they had gotten from Edwin before the attack was the location of the cave where he'd found the carvings. Unconsciously, she found herself turning west before Fury used several hand signals to direct the men in the same direction. Scott sighed as they streamed out; trying to hide how much he was unimpressed with the military manoeuvring. "Bet you love this." Sean murmured behind him, and Scott threw him a glance over his shoulder.

"Actually, no. I think I'd rather have Jubilee popping gum in my ear and Logan threatening to shove his claws where the sun doesn't shine because Gambit's annoying him."

Jono snorted and nodded, glancing at Diablo who was stuck, in his mind, babysitting. "Tell me about it. I'd give anything to hear Jubes and Angelo bickering right now."

"People..." Kitty murmured warningly, and Scott nodded, biting back a grin as Jono moved a few steps ahead of them and completed a perfect two fingered salute.

Diablo watched the motley crew of mutants make their way behind the highly trained soldiers, and though he had a neutral expression on his face, he was clearly not happy. Finally they reached the mouth of a cave, and soldiers took up position outside the mouth, while others streamed silently inside, flashlights lighting the way. One of the soldiers opened a small case he had been carrying, and a surveillance drone bobbed upwards, the top dome swivelling before it hovered into the cave. Another man knelt beside the case and turned on the screen contained in the lid, frowning as he followed the progress and the scans it was transmitting back.

Heather looked like she was wilting; her purple and black hair was plastered to her face as sweat poured down it, and she plopped down beside Sean, opening her canteen and taking a long, satisfying drink from it.

"I'm not made for this jungle business." She griped, and the Irishman patted her gloved hand understandingly. After an hour in complete silence, Fury got an affirmative from the man monitoring the drone and got to his feet.

"The area's clear. The drone has gone through the cave and located nothing living, and the cave system is stable. Time for you guys to do your stuff."

Sean nudged Heather, waking her up. "Your turn lass." He murmured, and she staggered to her feet with a jaw-cracking yawn, tugging off her gloves. Rolling her shoulders, she cracked her knuckles and sauntered to the mouth of the cave, brushing her hand against the rock wall beside her. She shivered as a couple of fleeting glimpses of a younger Edwin flashed by, and steeling herself, she touched the rock again, this time more firmly, keeping up the contact as flashes of life long gone hit her. Finally, she stepped away, taking a long steadying breath before walking almost drunkenly into the artificially lit cave. Spying a discarded piece of heavily corroded metal, she picked it up with her glove and looked at it curiously; turning, she held it up to the others, and Sam took it carefully from her grip.

"I think it's a chisel." He announced, handing it back, and she sank down until she was sitting, bracing herself against the side wall of the cave as she gripped it in her bare hand.

Scott crouched beside her as she gasped, but was unable to wrestle it out of her tightening grip when he realised she was completely lost in the vision. Finally, the tool tumbled out of her hand and she turned to the side, beginning to retch. The soldiers looked on, clearly uncomfortable, and Fury handed Scott his canteen as he fought to steady her. "Heather? What happened, are you ok? Heather; talk to me!"

"Oh god, there's a reason I'm not an archaeologist..." She shuddered and took the canteen from his hands, wincing at the fresh explosion of images that hit her, and none of them nice. She dropped it with an anguished cry and fumbled for her gloves. "What the hell have you been doing with that thing?" She looked up at Fury with an angry screech. "Jeeze H. Christopher...is that all you men do? Fight? How many wars has that gone through? I can't believe you used a water canteen to-!"

"Heather; focus." Scott gripped her head tightly, careful not to touch her skin. "What did you see with the cave wall and the chisel?"

She blinked myopically and shuddered. "Edwin was walking around doing his archaeology thing...then...then with the chisel...man after man after man taking it up to carve symbols into the rock...the story being told as it was written, over and over again, on and on and on through the years...the story must not be lost...the story must not be forgotten...man telling boy, telling boy, telling boy, back and back and back through the generations, the chisel...a new handle onto an old blade, a new blade onto an old handle...fire and forge...back through the generations until...one man, the first man...he picked it up...his hands were bloodied and scarred...robes...bright crimson robes..." Her eyes went distant; her skin pale as she trailed off, and after a minute, Diablo appeared with something in his hands, shouldering Scott aside as he knelt and picked up her hand, placing it on the object wrapped in red cloth. Again, she gasped, and this time, her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped to the side, landing heavily in the dirt.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing!" Scott yelled angrily, grabbing Diablo by the collar as he stood, hauling the younger man with him. "She's not one of us; she's a civilian. Do you understand? You don't just throw stuff at her and expect her to cope."

"We have to learn what's going on, Summers."

Scott dropped Diablo's collar and turned on Fury, his visor flashing angrily. "Colonel, do you remember what Charles told you about Jubilee? That her sanity is at stake if she doesn't get a grip on what happened? You backed down after that; what difference is there with Heather. She has three personalities in her mind, including Edwin's; she's still trying to deal with the aftermath of having her mother, and her grandmothers' memories and personalities forced on her, let alone that of a complete stranger! Christ, the kid has to take her own sheets with her anytime she wants to sleep in a bed!...the next time you want her to touch something or use her powers, you _ask_ her if she can take it. Do you understand?"

Behind him, Jono and Sean shared a confused look, both mouthing 'Jubilee?' at each other as a tense standoff began between the two men. Finally, Fury nodded and stepped away, sparing Heather a glance as she fought to sit up again.

"Feel sick..." She mumbled, taking her canteen from Scott and sipping gingerly.

"Feel free." He murmured, supporting her head as she sat up, her entire body feeling like jelly. "Are you ok?"

"Gimmie a minute...nobody give me any more bones...I don't do bones...I can't do bones...bones are bad; got it?"

"How bad?" Diablo asked quietly, looking decidedly sheepish.

"Bad bad. I see...I saw everything...you might never remember being born...but your body does." She turned green again and closed her eyes, leaning against the wall. "His body did...Even worse if you touch a body as it dies...happened to my Grandma when mum died, and then to me when Grandma died...only I got both...and now I've got Edwin…" She kept her eyes closed and appeared to be asleep as she fought to put the feelings and images she saw into words. Finally she opened them again as the colour began to return to her cheeks. "Right; first; nobody do that again or I'll go back home to England and leave you all wondering what's going to happen next; got it?"

"What's second?" Fury asked gruffly and Heather sighed.

"That was the first big honcho. Where'd you get his bones?"

Diablo looked over his shoulder. "There's niches carved into the rock a little ways in. Some of the men found it."

"Well, that's where they were laid to rest." She pressed her fingers against her temple as she fought against the memories. "Edwin, was right about what happened. One god went mad and started stealing the others worshipers. When Ehecatl was imprisoned, the other Gods sent their high priests out to make sure that there was some written record of what had happened, while they sealed themselves into their temples. Something permanent; set in stone. Some of them were pretty old men, so they brought boys with them to learn and to continue on what they were doing when they died. This guy..." She gestured to the bone, "He was the first guy to pick up that chisel…the High Priest of the God Ciucoatl...One of the Gods of the ninth level of the Underworld; Mictlan. Everyone except for warriors, those that die in childbirth and are hit by lightning get sent there. Anyway, he trained his boy...a little guy called Peku. Peku took care of Buluc as he carved, and when Buluc's hands got too bad to carve any more, he took over while Buluc recited what was to be set in stone, over and over again. Before Buluc died, he sent Peku out to find another boy to take over when it was Peku's turn to be the High Priest...he was dying...Peku came back with Chamer...Chamer's parents had died when their village was overrun by a neighbouring one...then Buluc died...and Peku and Chamer placed him in a niche they'd carved into the rock." She looked down at the chisel and shrugged. "And then I guess Peku died, and Chamer found a boy to help him, and trained him up as a High Priest, and then Chamer died, and the next kid took over...and on and on until the last word was carved. That's sad; Generations of men giving their lives just to record somebody's words..."

She trailed off and suddenly looked ill, shuddering as her eyes rolled up and she slid sideways. Scott gently caught her and laid her out on the ground. "Jono, stay with her. Colonel, does your fancy machine tell you where those carvings are?"

Fury nodded sharply and one of the soldiers led the way deeper into the cave system. Diablo watched the Colonel's fingers flicker, and he nodded, obeying the silent order to stay behind with Jono and some of the soldiers. When the last of them had disappeared around a corner in the cave, he looked at the young Englishman and nudged him.

"So, what's going on with Jubilee?"

Jono shrugged, taking off his coat to drape it over Heather. "No idea, mate. Scott saying she might go crazy is the first I heard about it. Sean too."

XXXXX

An hour later, Scott found himself staring at row upon row of small, carved symbols, wondering what they meant as several soldiers patiently walked along each wall, recording every chip and scratch with a camera.

"I could be in bed." Sam murmured with a yawn, and Kitty hid a smile as Sean nodded, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep.

"Lad, we could all be in bed. I don't see why this couldn't have waited another 8 hours."

Fury snorted from his place against the wall, noting Diablo lighting the way as he led Jono and Heather inside the cavern. "Ya all better, kid?" He asked, and she glared at him in answer, sitting down in a huff beside Kitty who looked bored.

"This must have taken years." Diablo murmured, and Heather shot him a look.

"Were you not listening or something when I said 'through the generations'?" She muttered pointedly, and closed her eyes again with a notable scowl on her face. Taking a deep breath, she looked around and wandered over to the nearest wall, touching it with a gloved hand. She frowned slightly and began to speak, unconsciously accessing Edwin's memories to read and translate the symbols that had been hewn into the rock.

Fury's head snapped around and he began snapping his fingers at some of the soldiers who were scrambling to grab recording devices, and another opened a laptop and began to type frantically, trying to catch up with her as she spoke. Sam settled back against the rock he'd been using as a head rest and closed his eyes, settling in for the duration as Jono took out a cigarette and a pack of cards and waved them at the most likely person to keep him occupied. Seeing Fury was occupied with the translation, Diablo nodded and adjusted the position of his rifle, sitting down in front of the young man, gesturing for him to deal.

Finally, with her voice growing hoarse, Heather reached the last symbols and stopped, pursing her lips together.

"What does it say?" Scott asked gently, and the tired eyes were dragged from the rock wall to look at him.

"To Paraphrase; I am the last to scribe this work and I pray our words do not go unheeded. The Gods help you in your quest; trust in them and their gifts."

XXXXX

Hours later, as the sun began to climb up into the sky again, Charles stood at the door to the briefing room, secretly amused at the snores that emanated from some of the heads on the table. Even Diablo was napping in the corner, but Fury was flipping through page upon page of transcripts.

"It's all here." He announced, spotting Charles and getting to his feet. "Wanna wake them?"

"Do they have anything to say that will help?" He asked, and Fury shook his head.

"Nah. Let 'em sleep."

Charles shook his head, noting the uncomfortable position that Heather and Kitty were sitting in; both of their heads lolling backwards, and silently closed his eyes, sending a telepathic instruction for them all to wake, go to bed and sleep.

Nick frowned as they all rose to their feet almost zombie-like, and lurched to the door, Scott sending Charles a muted glare; he knew what was happening, but he couldn't fight it.

"Well?"

Fury grunted and tucked the sheaf of paper underneath his arm as they began to walk to Charles' small study in the base; little used, except for private conversations. Quietly, he explained what Heather had seen, and when they reached the study, he threw the paper down. "Not much more than we already knew." He grunted.

"Except confirmation that we are dealing with something larger than we initially believed; and there are some entities involved that were once considered Gods." Charles added quietly, pulling out his chair.

"There was also this." Fury held up another piece of paper. "One of the men spotted bones outside the cave. They were new."

"How new?" Charles asked, unfolding the paper with a frown.

"New in that they still had flesh on 'em. We searched the remnants of the clothes and found a piece of paper. It fell apart as we were reading it, but that's what was written on it."

Serious eyes met his, and Charles sat down slowly, his eyes flicking from the photograph attached, to the hand written transcript. "It was in English?"

Fury nodded slowly. "We found an ID, and our Techs did a search on his name. Turns out he's some researcher for a Pharmaceutical company; based near Ehecatl's temple. Went missing about six months ago; went by the name Trevor Makepeace."

Charles read and re-read the words and finally bowed his head. "'_The orbs are the key' _. And we have no idea where they are."

XXXXX

**/Get up/**

The little girl in pigtails stared at the shining figure in front of her, and then glanced at the ghosts that seemed to mill around, hazy figures merging into each other before disappearing again. "No."

**/No!/** The figure seemed shocked, and a small lip jutted out in a pout.

"No. Hurts. Don't want to any more. The other lady left me, and it still hurts. I don't like this and I wanna go home!"

**/You are home. You are in your own mind, Jubilee/**

"This isn't my mind!" The little girl stood up and stamped her foot angrily. "My mind doesn't have this! My mind doesn't have other people in it; if it was my mind, it'd just be me an' it's not me! Is it?"

Chalchiuhtlicue drew back as the little girl began to morph into an older one, her dungarees changing to a battered pair of sneakers, blue denim shorts and a blinding yellow coat. Her hair shortened into a long crop, the fringe held back by a pair of garish pink sunglasses.

**/Then make them go away/**

The calm tone infuriated Jubilee, and she glared around. "And how pray tell am I supposed to do that! This isn't my mind. My mind doesn't do this! It should only be me in here!"

**/ For goodness sake, little girl, you should have more control of yourself than this. I thought you would have managed to fix this **_**days**_** ago. **_**Tell**_** them to go away. /**

While the pout had faded, Jubilee's lower jaw jutted out stubbornly. "GO AWAY!" She clenched her hands into fists as she shouted and as suddenly as the ghostly spectres had appeared, blinding her with their pain, they were gone, leaving just the two of them alone in her mind. "And you can go too." She added, a little shocked that it had been as easy as that.

**/I cannot. We have been through this before, little fleshling. I cannot leave until the time comes. You agreed/**

"Well that was fucking stupid of me, wasn't it!" Jubilee snapped angrily.

**/Possibly/** There was a hint of amusement to Chalchiuhtlicue's tone, and the blinding light she emitted began to fade. **/But you don't even know I am here/ **with that, she vanished, leaving Jubilee standing on a bare surface, looking around with confusion. It didn't take her long to remember that this was what her astral plane looked like on a normal day, and as her memories of the past few minutes began to morph and change into what Chalchiuhtlicue wanted her to remember, she looked down at her hands, seeing her old yellow gloves that had fallen apart years before.

"Why am I wearing this?" She asked herself, and shook her head, dismissing it. "Never mind." She changed her appearance to reflect her age and style and let her consciousness emerge from her mind so she could wake up properly.

* * *

Logan was dragged out of sleep when the not so heavy weight on his chest bolted upright with a loud gasp, startling him. Her head hit the roof of the cage and a wave of paffs blasted the walls apart. Seconds later, the sound of booted feet thundering into the room made him automatically roll away from the noise, shielding her from what he instinctively knew was about to come.

The sound of bullets ricocheting around him made him cringe, but after a second it stopped and he risked looking over his shoulder to find Diablo holding a man against the wall by his throat, his other hand pointing the soldier's gun up at the ceiling which was now peppered with bullet holes.

Jubilee was already out of his arms, her eyes unseeing as she fled towards the doorway, and neither he nor Diablo could move quickly enough to stop one of the soldiers that were responding to the sound of gunfire striking her on the temple with the butt of his rifle. She fell back to the ground in a daze as another soldier opened fire on Logan as he charged the one who had hit her. As the bullets penetrated his body, he felt his awareness of the world fade away, and a cold veil of anger surged through him, summoning the feral side of his psyche.

Responding to the sounds of weapons fire and explosions, Jean and Scott rounded a corner to find they had run headlong into bedlam. Logan was engulfed in a berserker rage which was solely directed at the soldiers whose weapons were pointed at Jubilee, and Diablo was barking orders that were being completely ignored.

As Logan lunged for the nearest standing target, Jean used her telekinesis to hold him in place, while Diablo continued to bellow orders, using his hand to slap guns down to point at the ground.

"What the hell is going on?" Scott shouted as order began to return, and Diablo shook his head.

"I have no idea. There was an explosion, and I got into the room just in time to stop this idiot spraying the chica and her Papi here with bullets."

Scott crouched beside Jubilee as Jean stepped up to Logan. The Feral was snarling and howling, struggling to get loose from the invisible bonds that held him away from his pup. Jean struggled to make a decision, but finally used her powers to lift him and guided him down the hall into a secure room; one that was designed to hold him. "He's in a complete rage." She confirmed running back to them once he was properly confined; she ignored the blood on his clothing, knowing that his healing factor would deal with it in time. Diablo winced at the muted roars of rage that travelled through the door, which were punctuated by metallic thuds and the sound of sheering metal. "What happened to her?"

"She was knocked out by a rifle butt." Red Eyes muttered, sending the other soldiers out. "Chica lost it in the room. Moving like el Diablo had gotten hold of her…not me…the devil, I mean."

"Oh no…" Jean whispered worriedly, and Scott picked Jubilee up gently.

"Jean?"

"If she couldn't control it Scott…"

Scott pressed his lips together and shook his head. "Jean, of all of us, she's the last person that would lose her mind. She panicked because she was disorientated and someone started shooting at her. That's what happened." He almost sounded as if he believed it, and started walking towards the med-lab.

"Scott-"

He didn't answer, and kept walking until he reached Hank's domain, walking past the startled medics to find an empty bed. "Hank, Jubilee's been knocked out." He called out, and Hank emerged from his small personal office with a harried expression on his face. It immediately melted away and he rushed across the room. "Hit by a rifle butt."

Hank immediately began to check her over, but when Jean appeared with a Genoshian Power Collar, he stopped and looked at her accusingly. "Jean?"

"She lashed out with her powers. If…and I'm not saying she has, but _if_ she isn't…stable when she wakes up, do you really want an Alpha level mutant who isn't in her right mind in the middle of your med-lab?"

Hank moved aside to let her place the inhibitor collar on Jubilee's neck, wincing unconsciously at the sound of it snapping closed. "Jean?"

"She attacked-"

"She was attacked." Scott countered. "She blew up the cage, and then the soldiers attacked her. Jean…"

"What, Scott? That's not normal. That is _not_ Jubilee."

"Jubilee's afraid of small, tight spaces, Jean. She's claustrophobic. "

"Since when!" Both Jean and Hank chorused at the same time. Scott sighed as Hank began to check her over again, and leant against the side of the bed.

"She got trapped in a fallen building a while back. That's why I don't think she's gone mad."

"We'll see." Jean murmured unconvincingly, her attention turning to the table as a quiet groan whispered from Jubilee's lips.

"Jubilee…can you hear me?" Hank murmured as quietly as possible, and she mewled, screwing her face up as she curled up into a ball. "Jubilation, I need you to open your eyes."

Both of her arms snaked up around her head and she ignored him as she quietly began to sob, rocking slightly on the hard surface of the table.

"Where is Logan?" Hank asked finally when he realised that there was no chance of Jubilee responding.

"Locked in an isolation chamber; he went crazy when they hit her."

As Jean and Hank continued to try to talk to Jubilee, Scott leant back against the nearest wall and slid down to sit on the floor, pressing his fingers against his forehead as a headache began to thump directly behind his eyes.

Tigra turned over in her bed and wrinkled her nose with a quiet sigh; something was irritating it. After a minute, she realised something was really irritating it and she swiped at it with her hand; her eye opening a crack when she realised it was a plastic tube. With that realization came the smell of hospital, and her eyes shot open to see a soldier standing beside her. Moving her head slightly, she saw the barrel of a gun, and tried to sit up, only to realize she was as weak as a day old kitten.

"Dr. McCoy!" The soldier didn't take his attention away from her, and Hank looked up with annoyance, his hands trying to uncurl Jubilee as she continued to cry.

"What?" he snapped, and Tigra struggled up onto one elbow, her free hand feeling at the bandages on her midriff.

She blinked and her eyes swivelled to the gun again. "What happened?" She rasped, and Scott struggled to his feet and hurried over, shooing the soldiers away a few feet, giving them some privacy.

"You were taken over by an entity called the Shadow Man. It took over your body and mind, controlling you. Can you remember anything?"

Tigra shook her head, frowning as he raised the back of the bed to allow her to sit back. "Nothing really. Just…did I?...did I punch somebody…there was a dream…a bad dream, where something hurt me…and then somebody was comforting me in it, and told me if I went with him, he'd make everything ok again. It was just a dream though…so I went with him. I don't really remember anything after that."

"That's how we think he gets you; through your dreams. How do you feel?"

"I feel fine. A bit tired…what happened to me?"

Scott cleared his throat gruffly and looked uncomfortable. "We've been taking in those of us who need shelter from those the Shadow Man has turned. We were attacked several days ago and you tried to claw out Wolverine's eyes. He didn't take that very well." He moved out of view, and she began to look around her surroundings, noting that the soldiers hadn't relaxed and were still pointing their guns at her. Only one of the other beds in the room were occupied, though there was evidence on rumpled sheets and discarded medical equipment that showed there had been many other occupants quite recently.

"More were hurt than me?" She asked innocently as he carefully removed the IV, and his eyes flitted over to where Jean and Hank were still hovering over Jubilee.

"Mostly minor injuries. SHIELD provided a number of medics, and between us we've managed to patch everyone up." He confirmed, and then followed her gaze. "She is another matter."

She cocked an eyebrow and he played with the IV tubing in his fingers. "It's a long story; she got hit by lightning in the middle of the last attack. It's triggered something in her head."

"She's mutating?" Tigra frowned when Hank shook his head.

"No. We are afraid she has lost her mind."

Hank was keeping half an ear on the conversation behind him as he gently stroked the white and black strands of hair. "Come on, Jubilee. Open your eyes and talk to me." The crying stopped, but she didn't open her eyes, and curled up tighter on the crisp white sheet. Seeming to realise that they needed some reassurance, she took a deep breath.

"The ghosts in my head…they wouldn't go away." She mumbled, and Jean sighed with relief.

"They're gone now?" She asked carefully, and Jubilee nodded, her arms still cradling her head.

"They're gone. I told them to go away, and then they were gone…"

"Just like that?" Jean almost sounded amused, and Jubilee nodded, wincing as the muscles in her neck seized.

"Just like that…" She confirmed with a quiet sniff. "It was horrible, Jean…I couldn't…I could feel everything…I tried to get away, and when I did, I was in a cage…I blasted it away, and there were men with guns…and my head hurts like when Angelo dropped me off the roof of the garage…was it a dream? What happened?"

Jean sighed and grabbed a stool with one hand, making sure she kept contact with Jubilee. "You were hit by lightning. It activated something in your powers we didn't know about. It hurt you too much for us to be in your mind, and we had to let you try to control it yourself."

"Emma…"

"Emma stayed with you as long as she could. Once she left, though, nobody could get back in to try to help you. When you woke up, you startled the soldiers. They thought you were attacking them, so one of them knocked you out."

"People died…" Once the tears started again, she couldn't stop them, and she began to cry; each wracking sob aggravating her stiff and sore muscles.

"Looks like she's out of it." Tigra murmured softly, so as not to disturb them. Scott murmured a quiet 'thank god', and sat back down on his stool; out of the two of them, Jean was more qualified to deal with an injured mind than he was. Jean nudged softly at Jubilee's mental shields with her mind, and was relieved when Jubilee let her in with no problems. She only stayed a moment to make sure that everything was how it should be, and that nothing sinister had taken residence on her astral plane, and drew away just as gently as she had entered, trying to make sure she caused no pain to the woman who to her was still sometimes the little girl they had opened their home to.

It felt like forever before the tears stopped, and Jubilee fell into a dreamless, painless sleep. As soon as she realised she was asleep, Jean removed the Inhibitor Collar and handed it over to Hank. "Lock that away again. She won't need it." She confirmed sadly. "I have checked her mind; there's nothing in there except for her, and no insanity. Hank; what can you smell from her scent?"

Hank frowned, but put his nose close to her skin. "I smell nothing but her…why?"

"Logan's still out of it. If we put her in with him, he might calm down. If she's not throwing off bad scents, he might calm down enough for 'Wolverine' to disappear, and 'Logan' come back."

Hank frowned but stepped aside as she injected Jubilee with a muscle relaxant, and as an afterthought, a light sedative. "We'll have to be quick-"

"I can hold him long enough for you to put her inside. Just do it gently." She cautioned him, and Hank nodded, scooping her up into his arms. "I've never seen him this bad." She murmured when they reached the room, and Hank nodded.

"We've never seen him unable to get at Jubilee when she was this hurt before." He reminded her. "At least, not when he's gone into a rage." He stood at the ready as Jean pinned Wolverine against the wall and opened the door enough so he could lay Jubilee down inside. He dashed out quickly, and Jean gently released the snarling mutant, ready to hold him back again if he showed any sign of attacking Jubilee. He seemed to waver for a moment before dashing forwards to grab her by the wrist. He pulled her across the room until they were in a corner and he crouched down, balancing on the balls of his feet, pulling her up into his arms. He glared around the room warily as his lip turned up into a snarl, his claws still extended.

Jean stood there, watching for what felt like hours until he relaxed and curled up in the corner he had claimed as his own, nuzzling his nose into Jubilee's cheek; the animal in him finally comfortable enough to go to sleep with his pup safely in his arms.

When he woke again, sanity had reared its head, and he held Jubilee closer, brushing the hair away from her temple to reveal the black bruise that spread up into her hairline. The door was standing open and she shifted sleepily with a yawn, her eyes blinking open for a second before sliding closed again. "'m cold." She grumbled, and he screwed up his face as the realization that he'd nearly lost her again hit him. And it terrified him.

"Jubes…" He trailed off, unable to speak, and she opened her eyes again, sitting up stiffly in his arms when she saw the anguish on his face.

"Logan…it's ok. Wolvie, it's ok…Wolvie?"

She suddenly found herself being dumped on the ground, and he disappeared out the door, leaving her alone and confused. "Logan; what's wrong?" She called out, and crawled to the door, slumping against the frame as he disappeared down the hallway. "Logan? Logan!"

XXXXX

Violet and Dashal were out on the lawn, helping press the kicked up sods of earth back into place. The front of the mansion was a wreck; trees and shrubs had been uprooted, and there were huge areas of scorched earth where one power or another had missed a target. Violet was standing in Jubilee's lightning circle when the sound of helicopter blades made her look up, and she instinctively surrounded herself and Dash with a shield as a helicopter landed gently. "What's-"

"That's Marine One." Dash nudged her, and she let her shield wink out as Fury and Charles emerged, ducking the blades that were slowly stopping. "The President."

John Hayes emerged solemn faced, and Dash returned to replanting a shrub that had been ripped out of the ground. "Wonder why he's here."

"'Cos it's all gone to hell in a hand basket." Violet reminded him, and Charles' lips twitched as their words carried across the air.

"Has it?" Hayes asked absently, and Fury shrugged, leading the way to the front door.

"Possibly." Charles murmured, and looked up sharply as the front door banged against its hinges and Logan stalked out, jacket on. "Logan?"

"I'm goin' out." He grunted, and got onto his motorbike, gunning the throttle and taking off down the drive.

Fury shared a knowing look with Charles and guided the President inside, leaving Charles standing on the front steps. /Jean, is Jubilee ok?/

There was no answer for a moment, and then he could feel Jean's anger. /She'll be ok. She woke up and she's managed to get a hold on her powers. If you see Logan, tell him I want a word with him. He's upset her/

The mother bear in her suddenly came to force, and Charles began to walk up the rest of the steps, shaking his head. /He's taken off on his motorbike./ The reply was more emotion than words, and he winced, not envying Logan his welcome on his return. By the time he'd reached his study, the President was standing in front of the long list of names that were being displayed on the large wall screen.

"Everything ok?" Fury grunted as Hayes began to shake his head at the magnitude of what was happening.

"Jubilee has regained control. Logan…" he trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"Logan bugged out." Fury grunted, feeling an uncharacteristic spark of anger on behalf of Jubilee flare up. "I got it."

"What?" Hayes finally realised that Charles had joined them, and turned away from the Board. He was a young man, and it had been a shock to many that he had won the election the year before. Opinion was still divided on how well the man was doing the job, but so far, his willingness to listen to Fury on different matters, and a burning drive to get the mutant/human issue over with for once and for all bumped him up a few notches in the Colonel's mental rank of people he didn't mind dealing with too much.

"A private matter involving two of our members." Charles gently glossed over the matter, and gestured for the President to sit. Hayes shook his head, a coy smile on his face.

"Charles, I came here to look over your facility, not to sit and chat. You've explained what is going on, I've seen the lists. I understand the severity of the problem, and that my Office can't do a single thing about it except step in if you need someone railroaded over. The X-Men and its affiliates as well as SHIELD have our complete support in this matter. Now I want to see the X-Men base. Don't make me beg."

When they finally descended via the elevator into the Base proper, Hayes oohed and aahed appropriately as he was led around, not saying much as he didn't understand half of what he was seeing, but he paid close attention nonetheless. It was when Charles paused at a door that looked identical to every other door that he finally spoke up. "Something wrong?" When Charles didn't answer, he cleared his throat. "Is this to do with the private matter?"

Charles nodded and opened the door cautiously. Jubilee was standing in front of a mirrored window into one of the observation rooms, staring at her reflection with an almost mutinous expression on her face. Jean was sitting on a stool nearby, while Paige was attempting to lift Jubilee's spirits.

"-not so bad. Honestly; it looks funky. I swear, Jubilee. You could do some really cool…" Paige trailed off when she spotted Charles and Jubilee caught his reflection in the window.

"I'm seventeen years old, and I'm grey." She muttered, her eyes flinty.

"And I am bald." Charles murmured, coming further into the room. "And Rogue has a streak of white in her hair that dye will not cover. And Dr. McCoy and Nightcrawler are covered with blue fur. There are worse things, Jubilee, than going grey."

"I know!" She half-wailed. "But…why me?" She finished lamely, some of the wind having left her sails. "I got enough strange looks with the being Chinese with Blue Eyes thing. Now I'm grey…with this freakin' white spot! in the middle of it." She tugged at the white hair bitterly. It took a few moments, but she realised who was standing with him and she turned her back on them, reaching for the scissors. "If I'm gonna look like a freak, then I might as well do it properly."

Charles winced, but obeyed Jean's silent request for privacy. Fury hung back as Jubilee began to hack at her hair, wincing at the expression on her face, and then finally shut the door, catching up with them just in time to hear Charles finish his explanation of what they had just seen.

"She's one of the lucky ones." Fury grunted, and Hayes nodded.

"I understand, gentlemen." At their look, Hayes gestured to the doors. "Have you somewhere that we can speak in complete privacy?"

Charles nodded and ushered them into the room that had housed the Orbs before their removal to the SHIELD transport that was hovering a few miles above the earth not too far away. "This room is completely shielded from everything, including telepathic intrusion."

Hayes smiled softly and leant against the empty table. /Good/

Fury blinked at the strange voice in his head, and realised his jaw was hanging slack. "You gotta be kidding me…"

"It's not something I broadcast, gentlemen. No one but my parents know of it. And it is to remain that way. I am not a powerful telepath, and I can only really speak mind to mind, or read someone when I am very close to them. I cannot influence people, but I want you to know that _I know_ how important this is."

"Sonuva…" Fury started to laugh, hard, and Charles found himself unable to contain his surprised amusement. "The president's a mutant...oh, this is good...this is real good..."

"This will go no further than this room." Charles assured him finally, once Fury had managed to get a hold on his laughter. The Colonel readily agreed, and Hayes sagged with relief.

"I know I am taking a chance telling you, but you had to know, I guess. I haven't had the chance before, Colonel…too many eyes and ears wherever I go. You don't know how hard it was to persuade my secret service men to stay outside on this trip, and I don't have much more time."

"There isn't much more to discuss." Fury supplied. "We'll keep you in the loop of course; if there's any developments you'll know about them. And if we need you to step in at any point…"

"You got it." Hayes stood regretfully, obviously wishing he had more time.

"You can visit any time you wish." Charles informed him, correctly guessing what was on his mind.

"I might just take you up on that when things get less…crazy."

"Things never stop being crazy around here." Fury grunted, opening the door. "There's always some crazy-ass sh-" He broke off as Jubilee strode past with her head held high, sporting a haircut that made him grin. "Looking good, kid."

Jubilee turned, walking backwards and smiled grimly at him. "If you see Logan, tell him I want a word." She ordered and stalked off. As she disappeared around the corner, her hand raised to run through the short locks that would soon be held back from her face by a pair of sunglasses, conjuring in his mind the image of the 13 year old kid that had once roller bladed through the empty mansion halls.

"I'd better get back to the Transport." He grunted, his hand automatically checking that his gun was strapped to his thigh. "We'll talk. Chuck, let me know when Heather remembers what Fielding knew and you're ready to start getting those other orbs."

XXXXX

Jubilee took refuge in her room, hiding away from the curious eyes that watched her. Those that had seen her before were curious about her new look, and some watched her warily; but then they watched everyone warily.

She hadn't been asked to share her room yet, and for that she was thankful. She showered and cleaned up, studiously ignoring her reflection in the mirror, and then dressed for bed even though the sun was still above the horizon. She sat cross-legged on her bed and closed her eyes, sinking into meditation. She knew it was foolish to do it on her own, with no one watching to make sure nothing bad was happening, but she was feeling stubborn and mulish, and clenching her hands into fists she whispered 'Come here…'. Nothing happened, and sighed, frustrated, unclenching her hands again.

"I did it in my mind. I told them to go away in my mind…" She murmured, and closed her eyes again. /come here…/

Snapping open her eyes, she realised she could feel it around her again. Nowhere near as bad as when she'd been hit by the lightning, but she could _feel_ the bulb in the lamp by her bed and it's cord leading to the socket in the wall as just a faint flicker of _something_. An odd sensation made her turn her attention downwards as a floor below her, something moved. Dragging in a deep breath, she ordered it to 'go away' in her mind, and the awareness of the lamp winked out. She smiled properly for the first time in days and lay back on the mattress, running her fingers through her hair again. /on/ /off/ /on/ /off/ /on/

/Jubilee?/

Emma's tentative call drove ribbons of pain through her head and she yelped, ordering her newfound ability to turn off.

/What?/ She snapped back, and then immediately regretted it. /Sorry Em; that just hurt a bit. What can I do for you?/

/Let me in/

She finally became aware of a quiet knocking on the door to her suite, and clambered stiffly off the mattress to let the telepath in. "I can do it now. I can turn it on and off. It hurt though, when you tried to talk to me with it on." She explained as Emma slipped inside, shutting the door behind her.

"We will have to be careful of that, then." She murmured, and Jubilee nodded, gesturing to one of the armchairs in a silent invitation to sit. "How are you feeling?"

"Other than being completely pissed at Logan for running off for god only knows what reason, I'm ok. I'm scared, I don't like what just happened, I hate my new hair colour and…and…thanks for trying to help. Dealing with a mini-me in my head wasn't fun, I know. I don't know what came over me…I just…I don't know."

Emma smirked icily, but having known her former teacher for so long, Jubilee knew that if it had been Jean or Ororo, the smile would have been warm and forgiving. It was as close to one as Emma could get. "It wasn't so bad. It made me feel for your parents."

Jubilee sniggered, picturing her six-year-old self that Emma had been subjected to dealing with. "I wigged out."

"You did." Emma agreed, "But you got there in the end, stubborn fool that you are. You take too much after Logan in that respect. He has been a bad influence on you." Before Jubilee could protest, she continued, "But if it hadn't been for him, I doubt you'd be standing here today."

Jubilee huffed and fought the urge to curl up in her chair. Her muscles would appreciate it but she knew she had to get them used to being straight again. "Whatever." They sat in a comfortable silence, Emma's lip quirking into a smile as she watched Jubilee's facial expressions change from time to time and realised she was turning on and off her powers.

"Does it still hurt?" She asked finally, and Jubilee shook her head.

"Not so much. Not as bad as it was; and it's not as crisp as it was. Instead of getting the whole thing, I'm like, getting the light bulb instead of the whole lamp, and the cord, and the wall socket, and the wires that go through the building…It's getting easier, but it still makes me have a headache."

"Practice makes perfect."

"I've handled this badly." She murmured, and Emma shook her head, her expression still its normal, icy countenance.

"You cannot handle everything well, Jubilation. You should know that by now. Life is not a walk in the park; you are _allowed_ to handle things badly. You are allowed to cry, and to scream. But your hair, and your appearance does not define _who_ you are. Only you can do that. Remember that." She stood abruptly and nodded sharply. "I will talk to you later; get some sleep."

"Jawohl mein Kommandant." Jubilee saluted the closing door, missing Emma's snort of amusement. Yawning, she clambered back onto her bed and snuggled down against the pillows, suddenly bone tired. Her last conscious thought made her pout carry into her sleep as she wondered why Logan had abandoned her like that.

XXXXX

It was the dead of night when a figure crept into her room to stand at the end of her bed, watching her sleep in the pool of moonlight that shone through the window. A soft sigh filled the air and the figure moved to shake out a blanket and cover her up, tucking it gently around her to make sure she didn't get a chill.

"I'm sorry for running, kid." Logan whispered softly, sitting gently on the side of the mattress so as not to disturb her. He ghosted a finger over her lip, smoothing out the pout. "Things in my head…sometimes they get too much fer me to handle. I can't help it…seein' you like that, confused, afraid…in pain…I…I realised how close I'd gotten to losing you…and that thought scared me more than anythin' ever has. I run away from things…I can face the biggest monster on the planet, but I…seein' you hurt…thinking of losing you…it makes me run. But I didn't run today…I hope you can see that. I know it looked like I did, but I needed to clear my head. To think straight. And I hurt you doin' it. I know I did…I heard you callin' my name…"

As he rambled, her eyes opened to slits, the bright blue irises visible in the moonlight. She didn't move, but listened to him talk, knowing that talking about emotions was difficult for him on the best of days.

"Jubes, you gotta know by now how much I care for you…how much I love you. Yer closer to kin than I've ever had before…yer as much mine now as you ever were yer parents. But there's not a court in the world'd let me give you my name…let me take you on as my own. And it's somethin' I'd give my life for, to be able to call you my daughter, legally. That's where I was…where I went. I went to a lawyer to find out what I'd have to do to make you mine. And as much as I hate to admit it, there's not a thing I can do. But I've made a will. Everythin' I own, including the cabin, it goes to you if somethin' happens to me…"

She slowly sat upright until she was level with his face, her expression unreadable. A split second later, his ears were ringing and the side of his cheek was stinging from her slap. "Don't you _ever, ever_ do that to me again! Do you hear me!" Tears streamed down her face, and she punched him hard in the shoulder before flinging herself at him, pressing her face into his neck, almost pushing them both off the edge of the bed. "Damnit, Logan, don't ever run away from me like that again. We've been through this! Five years worth of this!"

"I know…I know, sweetheart…It just takes me a while…I got a thick skull…it takes a while to get things through to me…don't cry, sweetheart, please, don't cry…"

"'m not crying!" She protested, even though her tears were soaking through his shirt. "How dumb can you be? I mean…" She sniffed and increased her grip, as he nuzzled his head against hers. "I'd take yer name in a heartbeat you big lummox. We don't need no idiot judge to tell us what we already know. And I know, Logan. Even if you never said it, I'd know. When…" She trailed off and pulled away from him so she could see his face properly in the moonlight. "I'm 18 soon; you know that, right?"

He nodded slowly, not seeing where she was going with her train of thought. "You can't adopt me…we knew that already ….But you don't have to give me your name. I can legally change mine by myself when I turn 18."

"The lawyer didn't say that." He grumbled, and her face creased into a smile.

"Is that a yes?"

"Yeah, kid. That's a yes. If it's the best we can do, then it's the best we can do. But only if yer sure. You got a couple a months ta think about this properly. If you wanna back out at any point…"

"Back at ya, Wolvie. But there's no one else's name I'd ruther take. You know that. Jubilation Lee Logan. Whaddya think?"

The crushing hug she was enveloped in told her all she needed to know, and when the sun finally rose, it's rays landed on the writing desk by her window, settling on the crisp white printouts of the forms she needed to use to change her name, already filled out and signed.

XXXXXX

Remy Le Beau was uncomfortable. He never did well around large crowds; being an empath, no matter how weak, left him sensitive to the moods of those around him. And in the mansion, emotions were plentiful; doubt, anger and overwhelming fear not to mention pain and suffering clouded the air around him.

Four days after the battle on the lawn, he sought out his refuge on the roof, and wasn't surprised when he found someone sitting in his usual spot for brooding. He was, however, surprised when she twisted her body around but seemed to look through him rather than at him, and he crouched down in front of her to touch her cheek with his glove. "Cher, everything ok? Remy worried about you."

Jubilee smiled faintly and her eyes seemed to pull back into focus. "I'm ok, Remy. Just testing the waters with my powers, y'know? Too busy down there anyhow. Too much going on; and every time a telepath yells out or wants to talk while I have it on, it gives me a migraine." She fluttered her hand towards the lower levels, and he nodded, easing himself into the small space beside her. She moved over a little and let him thread his arm around her shoulders, settling his back against the tiles as she nestled against his chest, wrinkling her nose against the hard body armour that encased his chest. "You ok?"

"Too much anger down there, petite." He murmured, producing a cigarette and puffing gently on it as he lit it with a fingertip. "An' fear. Remy be glad when dis be over."

He felt her draw in a deep breath, and she nodded, her eyes flicking up to one of the peaks in the roof on the far side of the building where Storm and Tradewind were trying to restore order to the weather patterns around New York and beyond; so many weather controlling mutants fighting during the battle had severely disrupted the weather for almost six states. "Logan brought twenty of the new guys to the Heli-Carrier last night to help with guarding the orbs. He'll be back later. Charles and Jean are sifting through everybody's minds to try to make sure that they're not Taken before they go."

Remy snorted and shook his head. "For what good dat'll do. Dey could turn tomorrow an' we won't know."

"Stop being a negative-nellie." She nudged him with her elbow, turning her attention to the dark storm clouds that hovered over the county; lightning still crackling in its midst.

"Don' call me Nellie." He griped, giving her a quick squeeze. "You got a clear bill of mental health?"

Jubilee grinned, even though he couldn't see his face, and nodded. "Emma, Charles and Jean had a look-see. I'm clean as a whistle and sane as ever…don't even think about making a joke about that. I don't like what happened…it doesn't feel right; not like the whole big explosions thing. I dunno, Rem'."

She felt his arm tighten slightly, and closed her eyes, breathing in the familiar smell of cologne and cigarette smoke. With her eyes closed, and the feel of his arm around her, and the cold surface of his armour under her cheek, she could almost pretend that she was back when things were simpler; she was thirteen, and he was her hero, and was content to sit up on the roof with his little partner in crime, sipping on Scott's beer and enjoying the cool autumn breeze.

***Recap:**

**During the battle, Edwin and Heather hid in the attic. Edwin had a heart attack and as he died, Heather absorbed his memories. As the transfer is new, she cannot access them at will. Edwin's part in the Cave system reading the symbols has been changed to Heather reading the symbols, unconsciously using his memories to translate them. The rest of the changes are just clean-up duty, making things flow better and shortening Jubilee's reaction to her changed appearance. Jubilee and Remy have a quiet moment on the roof.**


	16. Return of the Fallen

**Sorry for the delays in posting this. I've been working through some personal bad news in the past couple of weeks that ended up with getting the news last week that after pouring my heart and soul into a job for just over a third of my life, I'm being made redundant and the entire branch of the company is being pulled out of the country. I'm a little bit bummed, so this chapter is to make up for it. I hope you like it. The recap on the changes I made to the last chapter is below:**

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* * *

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**During the battle, Edwin and Heather hid in the attic. Edwin had a heart attack and as he died, Heather absorbed his memories. As the transfer is new, she cannot access them at will. Edwin's part in the Cave system reading the symbols has been changed to Heather reading the symbols, unconsciously using his memories to translate them. The rest of the changes are just clean-up duty, making things flow better and shortening Jubilee's reaction to her changed appearance. Jubilee and Remy have a quiet moment together on the roof **

Heather drifted around the mansion for days, lost in a world of her own. Or rather, a world of Edwin's. Everything she saw had double and triple meanings as personality warred with personality; Edwin's the strongest and her mother's only a whisper in the background. Worse still, her own for once was even quieter than her mother's, seemingly content to stay where it was and let the others vie for attention in the battleground that was her mind. She'd managed to stave off the battle until after they'd returned from South America, but now it was no holds barred.

Edwin was clearly dictating her movements and habits; she'd already taken a nap, and had had more tea in the past four days than could be healthy. She didn't realise it, but she was being trailed by Rogue who had more than an inkling about what the young English girl was going through. Finally, she settled in the large glass walled conservatory at the side of the west wing and curled up on a large wicker couch with deep, enveloping cushions. Closing her eyes, she gathered enough courage to join the fray, and she sat with her face screwed up for over an hour while she began to firmly put her mother, grandmother and Edwin into place.

When she finally opened her eyes and was aware of her surroundings, Rogue was sitting on the opposite couch with Jubilee draped over her, and she was carding her gloved fingers through the younger girl's short cropped hair. Jubilee seemed to be sleeping, but her eyes opened to small slits, and she shifted her weight to look at Heather properly, her eyes snapping into focus. "Hey, you ok?"

Heather smiled weakly and nodded. "I'm me, if that's what you're asking? Yeah, we're…I mean, I'm ok. He's been put in his place and he'll do what he's told, otherwise…we'll have another discussion."

Rogue nodded understandingly, but gently eased Jubilee into sitting up and scooted forwards until she was sitting on the edge of the cushion. "Heather, can you access his memories now? Can you tell us what we need to know?"

Heather chewed at her lip and nodded hesitantly. "Bits…it's going to be like Grandmother, I'm afraid. His older memories are…vague. I need to think on things, ok?"

Rogue nodded and happy that she was back to herself, left the two of them alone. Jubilee snuggled down into the cushions and pulled a throw around her, yawning. "Are you ok?" Heather asked, and Jubilee nodded.

"I'm fine. Nothing like getting hit by lightning, feeling every single injury everybody gets, feeling people dying, not being able to escape from your own mind and finding out you have a whole new power that makes you sensitive to electricity to make you tired is all." She caught Heather's expression and smiled gently. "That was my highlight reel of the last couple of days. That and trying to work out if that's a lamp behind me or Remy."

"'S Remy, Petite."

Jubilee jumped and glared at him over the back of the sofa. "Jeeze, Rem; you scared the crap out of me. I was only kidding!" He smiled and petted her on the head. "And you could have told me he was standing there Heather!"

Remy ignored her indignant protest; "Heather, de professor sent me to see if you were you again; he didn' wan' to distract you by calling you in de head. He wans you to start meditation t' see if you can start accessin' de memories." He shrugged apologetically, and Heather nodded, getting stiffly to her feet.

"It's ok; I was expecting this." She nodded to Jubilee, silently telling her they would speak later, and disappeared back into the mansion.

"Well, Petite, since Logan be at a bar getting' drunk, I tought mebbie you an' me could have some time in de danger room. You not had a session for a while, an' I tought we could mebbie play?" He smiled slyly at her, and her eyes narrowed as she let her head tilt to the side.

"Play? How play?"

"A game we no play for a long time; cat an' mouse?"

She thought hard for a moment, weighing up her fitness levels and her ability to keep up with the thief. "Fair enough; who is cat and who is mouse?"

An hour later, the 'cat' had cornered the mouse in a derelict building, and Remy was grinning at her with a handful of charged cards fanned out in one hand. She'd cornered him several times during their 'game' but he had skilfully escaped, leading her on chase after chase, but now she was getting tired and the audience they'd gathered up in the control room was getting on her nerves. The lights flickered to show them that their hour was up, and she hesitated between going for him with or without powers. He solved her problem by sending the cards towards her with a flick of the wrist, a split second before he was engulfed in a harmless wave of plasmoids. His cards exploded harmlessly when they hit her, and she rolled her eyes as Everett declared it a stalemate from the control room.

"Are you getting old, Remy, or am I getting good?" She asked impishly, and he growled incoherently at her, making her grin.

"Hit the showers, Petite." He pushed her in the direction of the women's changing rooms, and collapsed his bo-staff, stowing it in his pocket before obeying the silent request from Charles to meet him in the briefing room. Charles, Scott, Bob Parr and Heather were waiting for him when he arrived, and he looked at them suspiciously.

"Remy, we've got a job for you; one you'll enjoy." Scott smiled with more than a hint of slyness, and Remy sat down, still looking at them cautiously. "Heather's come up with a name; Crispin McGee. He died in the early seventies. We've just spoken to his granddaughter, and most if not all of his collection was given to the Geddes Memorial Museum in Manhattan."

"An' you wan' me to break in and steal it?"

"Borrow..." Charles spoke carefully, choosing to ignore the pointed look that Bob directed at him. "We'll give them all back if we can when the time comes. I don't think it is on display, but Sue and Reed Richards are on their way to the museum to look at the exhibits. We can only hope that if it is not on display, it is in storage."

Remy nodded slowly, already formulating a plan. "Who picks de team?"

"You do; this mission will be under your complete control." Scott confirmed; "But Heather must come with you; not into the Museum, but she will be staying in Charles's Penthouse. Get the Orb straight to her when you have it so she can try to read it. Who will be on the team?"

"Remy'll get back to you on dat." He smirked, and got up to leave. "And will let you know when he is ready. Bon nuit."

After making a few phone calls, he left the mansion stealthily, making sure that no one was following him, and a few hours later, was standing outside the museum as the last of the people visiting it walked out and the doors were locked behind them. The street ebbed and flowed with human traffic as people continued to drift in and out of stores and cafe's, and after an hour of waiting he turned on his heel and made his way back to the train station. Only when he was seated and on his way back to Westchester did he unclench his hand to look at the small computer chip that had been slipped into his pocket by someone even he hadn't seen.

The trip back was uneventful, and by the time dawn began to rear its head, he in Jubilee's room, watching her chew on the ear of her stuffed bunny rabbit in her sleep. He spied a piece of paper on the dresser and a quick glance at its contents made him smirk, spotting the signature at the end. He wondered if Logan knew of her plans to change her name to his. After a little while, he found that watching her sleep was oddly soothing, and as the walls around them brightened with the rising sun, he regretfully crouched down behind the foot of the bed and used his bo-staff to nudge her foot. "It's only Remy, Petite!" He called out softly as she woke with a start and jumped up onto her feet, eyes raking the room nervously for whatever had woken her up. Her hands were blazing with paffs, and she eyed him cautiously as he stood. "Need you to take a look at somethin'."

"It couldn't have waited until I was actually awake?" She grumbled, dropping down into a sitting position, bouncing slightly on the mattress. "Never mind, I guess it's an unwritten rule in this place that Jubilee isn't to get a full night's sleep and nothing can wait until the sun is actually up."

It was his turn to narrow his eyes at her, and she pulled the sheets up around her shoulders, moving back until she was sitting against the pillows. "Somethin' you wanna talk about 'fore we get into dis?" He asked carefully, and she shook her head.

"Headache again. Had it going to bed, have it now I'm awake again. To quote Pete Wisdom, I'm just being a 'grumpy little sod'. What do you want me to look at?"

"I'm leadin' a mission to get one of de orbs, Petite. It's in a Museum. Remy tought dat wit your new powers, you might be of extra special help." He smiled encouragingly at her, and she found her own lips tweaking upwards. "Not dat you aren't already extra special help."

"Stop buttering me up, Gambit. What's the job?"

He grinned at her and spread the plans that had been held on the memory chip out in front of her, smoothing out the curled up paper print outs.

XXXXX

When Scott arrived in the Garage to see what motley crew Remy had gathered for his mission, he wasn't surprised to see the thief and his some-time protégé leaning against the hood of the town car, staring down at a large sheet of white paper while Violet and Heather watched with interest. Logan was already in the driver's seat, his arms tightly folded across his chest and his eyes closed as he caught a cat-nap. Heather and Violet were closely observing Remy and Jubilee's discussion, and he was happy to see that Heather had gotten rid of the purple streaks in her hair, and Jubilee had managed to find something to colour the white strands of her hair back to their former colour so she wouldn't stand out so much.

"This your crew?" He asked carefully, and Remy straightened with a nod, carefully folding up the floor plans.

"Oui; dis be a simple job. Heather will be our inside 'man'. Violet will be stayin' wit Heather once Jubilee an' I go for de Orb tonight. Logan is de driver. De Professor said he might send a telepath later."

Scott regarded them carefully, and then looked at Violet seriously. "Does your father know you are going?"

She nodded with a half-smile and shrugged. "I'll be in a penthouse suite. How badly can things-" She was cut off by Jubilee clamping a hand over her mouth.

"She'll be fine, and Vi, we aren't tempting fate with this one. No mention of luck; good or bad, or how good or how bad this will go. It will just happen. Got it?"

Violet nodded and Heather pulled her along with her to the door of the car. "We'll be fine, Scott. Scouts Honour." Jubilee smirked, and saluted Scott before climbing in behind them. Remy waited until they were all inside the car before turning to give him a nod of assurance.

"Remy'll make sure they are all safe an' sound, an' Logan is there to watch our backs. De less people know 'bout dis mission, de better."

"I know, but I'm concerned about Jubilee; she's only had her new powers a very short-"

"I would have been taking her anyhow; de Petite is good, with or without her powers. She would have made a good thief if she'd had no mutation..."

XXXXX

When they stepped inside the front door of the Penthouse apartment, Heather and Violet stopped and gaped. The roof was vaulted glass with high beams, and even though they were in a modern building, it looked as though it had been transported straight out of the mansion. Jubilee, Remy and Logan breezed past them, and immediately began getting ready; setting up the equipment they would need, and checking and rechecking the plans. Once they were happy with what they had, Jubilee and Violet headed off for the Museum dressed in their street clothes. Logan and Remy left twenty minutes after them, and finally, wearing a sharp suit and a pair of glasses that concealed a miniscule camera, Heather flagged a cab and headed towards the museum to make her appointment with the Curator.

Reaching the museum, Jubilee looked up at the impressive façade and sighed; she'd hated museums ever since a 2nd grade field trip when Alan Fry had tried to lock her into a replica Mummy Case. "Ok, we need to get to the North Wing; that's where the door to the basement storage area is. I need to look at sensors, video cameras and access. Keep your eyes peeled too; if you spot anything, tell me. Do not point, do not shout and above all, do not draw attention to us. Do not look directly at the cameras. If you have to point, make sure you are pointing at an exhibit and then give me a reference, like its two feet above and to the right or something, ok?"

Violet nodded and a few feet inside the door, she was staring at Jubilee in shock at the sudden change of attitude. Outside, Jubilee had been all business; an X-Man on a mission to the core. The moment they'd entered the doors, her expression changed to that of a bubble-headed mall-rat, and she'd started chattering about some movie called New Moon. But all the time she babbled, and loitered, and looked bored, or annoyed, or was nudging her childishly as they stood in front of a nude painting, her eyes were flickering around the room behind her sunglasses, noting every sensor and dimple in the place

Jubilee was impressed with the security in the place, and while her mouth was on auto-pilot, she was filing every bit of information away in her brain for later. By the time they'd gotten to the North Wing, she'd already spotted Logan and Remy, and as she began another long-winded rambling, practically one-sided conversation about Johnny Depp, Heather walked past carrying a briefcase, accompanied by the Head Curator.

**XXXXXX**

Heather looked around she followed the short, balding man, and barely hid a smirk at the bored look on Violet's face as Jubilee jabbered away. When they reached his office, she set the briefcase down and smiled at him, letting a professional calm descend. She didn't need Edwin's memories to know how to act; her mother and grandmother's personalities were already screaming at her on how to sit and what to say; it was like having her own little cheerleading team.

"Dr. Neilson, as I stated on the telephone, I am the recipient of a collection belonging to an old friend of my family. He gifted a few items to me quite recently, but as I am sure you can understand, they do not quite fit in my home. I know they are valuable, and I understand that you have a policy of storage for items of a historical nature. I am quite willing to pay to have them stored here..." She smiled again, and he nodded sagely.

"We have taken on some items from time to time, but I would need to know how large they are, and of course, the value for insurance purposes. And we would have to discuss if you would be willing to display if they are suited to the current interests of the public and payment..."

At this, Heather's smile grew. "Ah, there is where we are both in luck. My uncle Charles; at least, that is what I always called him; has very generously offered to pay for the storage. You see, he gave them to me because he did not wish them to go to a particular person when he passes. He wished them to go to someone who appreciated their history. While I do, I am still quite nervous to have them in my home as my security is not quite up to par. You do understand, don't you?"

Heather would later swear that she saw dollar signs spring up into the man's eyes, and he leant forwards, eager to do business with her. It didn't take long for her to persuade him to show her the basement storage area, and she looked around with interest, secretly recording everything. It was all she could do not to jump with glee when she spotted a crate a few feet away with "Crispin McGee Collection" emblazoned across it, and she rested her hand on top of it, looking around to make sure she recorded every square inch of space around it.

"We keep all our artefacts in perfect condition." The curator continued, oblivious to her sudden interest. "We do of course double check the items once they arrive, to ensure they are packed correctly, and if they are not we will do the necessary…for an extra fee, of course."

"Might I see? I would hate them to be damaged in any way." Heather continued, keeping her accent as crisp and as British as she could, drawing on her grandmothers plumy tones. He hurried to accommodate her, and she tapped on the crate under her hand with an encouraging smile, stepping back as he levered off the lid. She barely managed to conceal a gasp as she spotted the orb nestled between two pieces of Styrofoam, sitting on the top of the box. "Oh my, that is beautiful. May I…?" She batted her eyelashes at him, and he smiled genially, gesturing for her to pick up the orb. "It's heavier than it looks." She smiled, turning it around in her gloved hands before carefully returning it to its nest of packing material. They continued with the tour, and after promising him that she would be in touch about shipping and payment, she left, passing Logan and Remy, both looking like businessmen, though the high-end suit looked slightly odd on Logan. He was standing in front of a nude representation of Venus, minus her arms, listening to Remy quietly state that the stones in the necklace in the display case next to it were fake.

XXXXX

Violet sat on the couch and shucked off her shoes as Heather placed a take away carton in front of her. They were waiting for Remy and Logan to return, and Jubilee had already declined to eat; instead, she had hung the floor plans on a blank wall, and was busily placing red and black and blue stickers all over it, making a face when she was done.

"What's them?" Heather asked, sitting tailor style on the coffee table behind her, happily munching on a forkful of noodles.

"Black are video cameras, blue are pressure sensors and red, nice shiny red, are infrared beams. The place is littered with them. Whoever designed their security system is like, a god or something. Where are the glasses? I want to download the footage from the basement so we're ready when Remy comes in."

Heather connected the glasses to the laptop, and began to walk Jubilee through it, consulting the floor plans from time to time. Jubilee soon became engrossed in it, and took the laptop and her cell phone to make a phone call in peace.

Remy and Logan came in not too much later, and the Cajun went straight to the plans on the wall, picking up the packet of stickers to add his own notes before heading out to the balcony. Logan stretched his bones, making both of them wince as his joints popped. "The Fantastic Four; or should I say, Fantastic Three will be comin' to babysit you guys." He grunted, reaching for the nearest box of noodles and a plastic fork. He headed for the front door, calling over his shoulder; "I'll be back later."

XXXXX

Jubilee looked grumpy when she and Remy came back in, and she disappeared into one of the bedrooms, emerging a few minutes later wearing the skin-tight grey uniform that she'd worn to get onto the Heli-Carrier. Slipping her feet into her boots, she shoved one of the coffee tables out of the way and began to stretch, warming up her muscles.

"What's wrong with her?" Heather asked curiously, and Remy flashed her his trade-mark sexy smile.

"Petite is pissed 'cos she goin' through the air conditioning ducts. She be small enough to fit. Goin' through de Museum itself be a nightmare; we prob'ly be detected after a minute. Too many sensors. Me, I'll be goin' through de back entrance. We go separate so if one found, the other is missed. Hopefully."

"I hate air conditioning ducts." Jubilee griped, holding her calf beside her head effortlessly. "They are messy, grimy, cramped, annoying, coffin-like...I hate them."

"Oui, ma Cherie, however you be de best. An' you know it." Remy buttered her up like a muffin, and she smirked, batting her eyelashes at him.

"So long as you know it, my Cajun chum. Is Logan back yet?"

Heather shook her head, and Jubilee sighed, checking one of the clocks on the wall. "He should be back with the replica orbs by now. Oh, you guys don't know yet; The Professor has asked the Fantastic four...um...Reed, Sue and Johnny, minus Ben Grim are giving us a hand. Sue's been making a fake orb for us. I gave her the approximate size of the thing, and sent her one of the images Heather took of it. Charles is on his way, too. Jean has a migraine from testing everybody being shipped to the Helicarrier, so he's gonna be our telepath for the evening. Personally, I think he just wants a piece of the action."

When Logan finally returned, he found Remy balancing Jubilee on his palm and smirked as she turned her head and gave him a wave. Violet and Heather were both laughing ard and Remy flipped her into the air, catching her easily as she landed lightly back on the palm of his hand. Johnny breezed past him, holding out his arms theatrically. "Don't I get a hug from my little Candy Monster?"

Jubilee grinned and Remy launched her with both hands towards the high, vaulted ceiling, appreciating how easily she flipped and landed before she pelted towards him to jump and fling her arms around his neck. "Flame boyah! I haven't seen you in, like, forever! How's it hanging?"

"Very well, thank you. I've had no complaints so far." He joked back, and she made a face, moving away from him.

"Jeeze; between you, Bobby and Remy I don't know who is worse!" She exclaimed, offering her cheek to Sue for a quick welcome peck. Reed nodded at her and she took the package from Johnny's hand, ripping away the brown paper. "Heather, what do you think?"

Heather took it from her and weighed it in her hand, examining the swirls. "Looks about right, though it's too light...what's it made from?"

"Arts and crafts dough. It's like plasticine; you can mould it, and then you bake it which makes it rock solid. Sorry; that's what took so long; and we had to make two." Sue explained, taking it back and slipping it into a black velvet bag. She handed another, identical ball to Remy. "Charles is downstairs waiting in the car; you guys all set?"

Jubilee nodded and Remy disappeared into one of the free rooms, coming back in his body armour. "Oui. Museum should be empty by now. It be past midnight. We be back later. Logan, you ready mon amie?"

The burly Canadian nodded. "Johnny, yer with us; Jubilee, Remy, plans have changed a little. I'm gunna be on the roof. Reed'll stay with the car and we'll need somebody to stick with the professor."

"Also, standing on a street corner on your own makes you look like either a weirdo or a pimp...or a male prostitute...though somebody'd need to be a real nutso to want-"

"OUT!" Logan bellowed and pushed Jubilee out the door. "If we're not back by sun-up, call the Base an' let 'em know what's happened."

XXXXX

/Ooh, déjà vu.../ Jubilee thought to herself Logan lowered her by her ankles into the ventilation duct opening on the roof, the hood on the uniform completely covering her face and mouth. /at least this time, no guards with machine guns...probably.../

Compared to the Heli-Carrier, her journey through the air conditioning ducts was a walk in the park; right up until the moment she realised that the plans they had for the ventilation system were completely and irrefutably out of date.

/Once; just once, I would like things to do what they should/ she grumbled to herself as she tried to work out where she was. She was facing a solid piece of metal that had been welded into place, and it was the fourth one she'd found. /Professor, it looks like this duct system is completely separate to the one downstairs. I'm gonna have to get out of it/

Standing with Johnny, Charles grimaced and reached out to Remy, warning him that Jubilee was emerging from the relative safety of the air conduits. In a shadowy corridor, Remy was contorted oddly as he snaked through a set of infrared sensors, a grimace on his face; the chances of them getting caught had now doubled.

A floor above him, Jubilee was staring at the stairs, hyperaware of what was around her. Remy stood a floor below, his red on black eyes easily seeing the red lines dotted up and down the stairs. Looking up, he watched her begin to thread her way down, a smirk on his face as she finally spotted him.

"Petite, you be better off gettin' on the railing an' sliding down slowly. There be no sensors there."

She sighed softly and did as she was told, sliding down slowly but with ease. "Get going, Gambit."

He nodded, leaving her to her own devices, and she closed her eyes, silently warning Charles that she was turning on her new power and was going to leave it on for good. Suddenly, ghosts of electrics surrounded her, and she knew where the infrared beams were. Remy had gone the easy way, and she quietly, and more importantly, carefully picked her way through the sensors to the other side of the room where an air vent sat, quietly mocking her from behind its spider web of security. When she got there, her eyes narrowed as she realised there was a pressure plate directly in front of it, and she quietly groaned. The job just got harder and harder. The vent came off easily enough, and she carefully stepped over the pressure plate, contorting to thread one foot inside. It was a tight squeeze to get into the older vents, and she fought down the rising panic as she got stuck at a junction.

On the street corner, Charles was still vaguely connected to both of them, and he frowned, feeling the panic well up, only to be smashed down again. "Charles?"

"Jubilee." Charles murmured, calmly putting his hands into the pockets of his coat. "She is ok; she became stuck for a moment."

Johnny made a face, but settled back against the wall, folding his arms across his chest. He hated waiting.

Jubilee finally made it down to the basement and slid through the ducts until she found the room she was looking for. She half-fell out of the opening and shook herself violently before reminding herself that it wasn't that bad, and nothing was going to collapse on her. Taking a deep breath, she looked around and froze as she realised she wasn't alone. A man dressed in black was standing in front of a crate holding up a large, jewelled sceptre as if admiring it, but instead was staring at her with his jaw hanging.

"No biggie." She murmured quietly, waving her hand at him. "You take what you want, I take what I want, and if Gambit turns up, he takes what he wants. I'm not gonna rat on you, you're not gonna rat on me; got it?"

He nodded once, and she edged warily towards the crate Heather had found. The top came off easily, and she took out the orb, replacing it with the replica. "Now I'm gonna hit the road; best of luck, and for the love of god, don't set off any of the alarms on your way out, got it?"

The man hadn't moved, but nodded again, just as the door to the room opened slowly and Remy edged in. "Gambit, meet Thief, thief, meet Gambit. Now, can we blow this joint before anybody else wants to join our party?"

Remy stared at the man for a minute before nodding. "Oui, Petite. Jean-Claude, give us twenty minutes before leaving, understand?"

Jean-Claude nodded, his eyes flicking back to the girl. "Remy, where you get her?"

"Dis no time for introductions, Jean-Claude. We speak later. I'll call you...or you call me for bail." He grinned slyly, and ushered Jubilee back to the ducts. She slid in with a groan of despair, and he quickly sealed the grating behind her. With a nod to his cousin, he put the lid back on the crate. Making his way back to the door, he tried to keep the grin off his face as he called casually over his shoulder; "Dey be fakes, Jean-Claude!"

Jean-Claude Le Beau looked down and cursed; a closer look at the jewels showed them to be completely fake, and he pushed the sceptre back into the packing straw and sealed it up again, ready to move on to the next crate.

Jubilee squeezed her way through the vents and awkwardly slid back up the banister, picking her way past sensors and plates. She was just reaching up for the grate that led to the upper level air conditioning when she heard the alarms start to ring, and abandoned her original plan, instead opting to run for the stairs. The door to the roof was bolted and chained, but she quickly blasted it open as she approached it and emerged onto the roof top at a dead run. Logan caught her as she sped past him, and swung her around, stopping her from running off the edge of the roof onto nothingness.

"What happened?" He asked as he ushered her towards the rope ladder he'd rigged as an escape.

"No idea." She snapped, swinging herself over and descending with ease. "I didn't trigger anything but the alarms went off. There was another thief in the basement though. He might have done it. I got the goods."

Logan followed her down and was pleased when the car carrying Johnny and Charles drew up just as Jubilee's feet hit the ground. She ducked inside and scrabbled down the seats until she was sitting next to the drivers partition and looked expectantly at Charles whose eyes were distant as he spoke with Remy.

"He is being attacked in the main hall. They should be exiting the front doors..." He trailed off as they pulled around to the front of the museum and the two oversized wooden doors exploded outwards, spilling splinters of wood and people down the front steps.

Logan growled and flung the car door open before they'd come to a stop, as Remy picked himself off the ground, calmly taking up a fighting stance. When Jubilee moved to get out of the car after him, Charles grabbed her wrist, urgency in his eyes. Silently, she detached the bag from her belt, handed it over and darted out of the car, barely even registering it peeling away with a screech of rubber.

"Johnny, circle around to the left." She ordered as Remy sent a handful of charged cards into the midst of his attackers. A figure in black appeared at the front door, and she split her attention between the Taken and Jean-Claude. He looked torn between helping and escaping, and she moved between him and the fight, giving him a quick nod; effectively letting him off the hook. Once he was gone, she launched herself into the fray, wrapping her arms around one of the three men trying to pin Logan to the ground and pulled him backwards, away from the fight. She increased the strength in her headlock as he staggered down a few steps until he sagged to his knees, suddenly going limp. She let him fall, not sparing him a glance as a figure caught her eye and she suddenly saw red.

Logan distantly heard her cry of rage as she launched herself at Angelo, immediately becoming enveloped in his skin. Her angry yells became muted, but she didn't pull her punches and used the maximum amount of power needed to kill him without taking out everyone else on the steps. The feel of her powers was slightly different as it released, but she paid it no heed as he hit one of the decorative pillars with force and crumpled to the ground. Dimly, in the back of her mind, she registered that she'd killed her best friend, but she crushed the thought down, trying to keep her mind only on the fight ahead of her.

She shared a quick look with Logan and they both nodded decisively before picking their next opponent; Jubilee using her already tried and tested technique of jumping on someone's back and either cutting off their oxygen or taking their legs out from beneath them, followed by a swift punch to the head. Her plan was working well until someone used her own technique against her and she felt an arm clamp tightly around her neck, cutting off her air supply until the world around her went black.

A few feet away, Angelo rolled over onto his side and groaned; his head was pounding, his skin burning and he was finding it hard to focus on anything other than the cold stone beneath his cheek. Opening his eyes, he looked around and tried to work out where he was and what was going on. It quickly became clear that he was in the middle of a battle, and he lurched to his feet, catching a glimpse of Logan punching somebody he didn't know in the face. Spotting somebody with orange skin holding a knife, ready to plunge it into Jubilee's throat, he jumped at him, knocking him to the ground. He stood over his friend with fiery eyes, his skin stretching until he looked taller and broader, silently daring someone to attack him. The man who had been ready to kill Jubilee stared up at him with undisguisable confusion, and as suddenly as they had appeared in the shadows of the main stairwell, the remaining seven Taken darted for the nearest shadow, disappearing.

"Logan; the chica's hurt!" Angelo crouched down beside her and attempted to rouse her, his concern growing when she only moaned and moved her head away from his touch. "Jubicita...c'mon, chica, wake up for me..."

Logan and Remy slowly got to their feet, and Johnny approached cautiously, all staring at him warily. Johnny didn't miss the fact that Logan didn't sheathe his claws, and Remy still held a handful of charged cards in one hand and his bo-staff in the other. "Skin?" Logan began, his voice low and deadly, "Step away from Jubilee."

Angelo glanced up at him and dismissed him, his concern for his friend overtaking his common sense. "Would you get a doctor or something? I think she was strangled. That guy was about to-" He broke off as three blades of adamantium were levelled at his throat, and he took his hands away from her, slowly standing. "I don't know what's going on here; I don't know what's happened, but why the hell are you guys looking at me like that?"

"The kid won't be happy if you gut him." Johnny pointed out quietly, and Angelo felt a sudden stab of apprehension in his gut.

"Guys…I really want to know what's going on; Right Now!"

Logan opened his mouth to reply, but Remy beat him to it. "Angelo, how your dreams been?"

Angelo's eyes narrowed, but he didn't take his eyes from the Cajun. "They…bad. Bad dreams. What's that got to do with-?"

"Somebody tellin' you they can make it all better?" Logan grunted, and Angelo nodded, more than a hint of worry entering his eyes. "That they can be the family you lost? That he understands you better than anybody else?" He nodded again, and finally glanced down at Jubilee.

"He said…I don't know…it was…" He sought to find the right words and shuddered. "I had so many of them, night after night. I hate dreams that happen again and again. I always woke up feeling…violated, but…I thought that maybe if I let the dream go on; didn't try to wake up, it would end and the dreams would stop. And then the dream just got weirder and weirder…What happened Logan?"

"You got taken over. Ya tried to kill Jubilee; tried ta drown her in the lake. Beat her to hell and back. The dream was an entity called Ehecatl tryin' ta get into yer mind. And you let him waltz right in."

Angelo closed his eyes, his skin seeming to sag down to his knees. He lurched towards the nearest pillar and leant against it, only to have Logan grab him by the scruff of the neck and drag him away towards a car that was approaching at speed. Johnny picked up Jubilee, quietly soothing her as she roused slightly, and hurried down the steps as the sound of sirens began to approach.

Remy jumped into the front seat and nodded to Jean-Claude who threw the car back into gear the second the passenger door slammed shut behind Logan. "Where to, Rem?"

Remy belted out the address of the penthouse and sat back as his cousin expertly began to navigate them away from the museum. "Now, you wan' maybe to tell me what's going on in there?" He asked calmly, but Remy shook his head, turning around in his seat to look at the four mutants squeezed into the back seat.

"Angelo, you try anythin' an we'll…" He trailed off when he realised that Angelo was gently cradling Jubilee's head in his lap, his fingers carding through her hair.

"I really tried to kill her?" He asked his voice lost and afraid. Logan nodded, and the Latino closed his eyes in pain again. "How bad is it?"

"Bad."

"Stop dancing around! How bad is-"

He broke off as the car was suddenly rammed by something big and immovable, and sandwiched in between Logan and Angelo, Johnny groaned, seeing the flash of orange toned skin.

"It's Ben. Can you-" He began to ask Jean-Claude to step on it, but the rear-wheel drive car was hoisted up by the back end and tossed against the nearest building, landing on its roof. Logan kicked out the door beside him and dragged Johnny out, pushing him at Jubilee and Angelo as the grey skinned mutant pulled his unconscious friend out of the car.

"Stay with them; make sure she's ok, or I'll kill ya when I'm done with The Thing." He snapped, as Remy sent a volley of highly charged cards sailing against Ben's feet. Despite feeling as though he had been through a wringer, Angelo shouldered Jubilee and grabbed Johnny's arm, tugging him along with him. "We get her out of here; where the hell are we?"

Jean-Claude grabbed Johnny's other sleeve and pulled them into the shadows of an alleyway, but was surprised when Johnny quickly shook his head and pushed them back out into the light. Even Angelo was looking anxiously at the darkness, and edged away, feeling queasy as he remembered that the people that had been attacking the others had disappeared into the shadows.

"What's going on?" Jean-Claude demanded again, and Johnny pursed his lips, glancing over his shoulder as the two X-Men goaded Ben Grim into attacking one of them.

"Too long to explain; let's just say that everybody should be afraid of the dark right now; got it?"

Angelo nodded, more than willing to believe him, and began to trot down the street, keeping his eyes on every dark shape he could spot. He could hear a monologue in French start up as Jean-Claude Le Beau began to mutter darkly, but he ignored it and concentrated on getting the still unconscious Jubilee to safety. Finally, having jumped over the wall surrounding Central Park, he set her down and looked around. "There's nothing around us…what's going on, Johnny? Why did The Thing attack us?"

"He's Taken; like you and a hell of a lot more of us; civilians too."

"This has to do with what happened with Vectress and Polaris?"

Johnny nodded and Angelo blew out a long breath before propping his fallen team mate up and slapping her face again. "Jubicita, now is not the time to be napping." He ordered, conscious of the fact that they were not exactly in an inconspicuous area; Central Park was well patrolled by the police. He looked down at himself and realised he was dressed in his own civilian clothes, and a quick look at Johnny showed he was wearing the same. Jean-Claude followed his eyes and quickly removed his black roll-neck sweater, tying it around his waist to reveal a white shirt that made him look more like a playboy than a thief. Jubilee, however, was wearing a uniform and he grimaced.

"She'll never pass for a regular civilian." He grimaced, and Johnny nodded, shrugging off the shirt he wore beneath his jacket.

"Put this on her. Take off her belt and tie it on over the shirt. That's kinda fashionable, right?"

Jean-Claude nodded with the same self-assurance that Remy normally displayed. "Oui; it looks like she's wearing leggings an' in fashion. Now, what's dis with 'Taken' an' what has my cousin gotten himself mixed up with?"

"There's an entity taking over people's minds across the world. So far we seem to have gotten back Tigra and him."

Angelo shrugged when both men stared at him, and concentrated on buttoning up the shirt. "Jubicita, now would be a good time for you to wake-" He broke off with a smile when her eyes fluttered open, and within seconds he found himself sailing across the grass to collide with a tree.

Jubilee was on her feet in an instant, her hands balled into fists blazing with power. "Jubilee; calm down." Johnny ordered sharply, keeping his voice quiet. "Angelo seems to be Angelo again. Logan and Remy are fighting The Thing; we were told to get out of there. We're in Central Park; and yes, you are wearing my shirt." He added, trying to convince her that everything was alright and introduce a little bit of levity to ease the tension.

"Angelo…?" She asked cautiously, and he groaned, pressing a hand to his lower back as he got to his feet.

"Chica, I understand where you're coming from right now; especially since I apparently tried to drown you, but if you do that again; this hombre isn't going to have a spine left."

Looking around stone-faced, she nodded, letting her hands fall down to her sides; showing she wasn't going to attack for now. "We'll talk about this later. Where did we run from?"

Johnny opened his mouth to answer, but looked up as a quiet whine of engines moved overhead. He could just about make out the profile of the Blackbird's undercarriage, and pointed in the direction it was travelling. "Are you ok?"

"My throat hurts but other than that, I'm ready to go kick some shadowy ass." Jean-Claude looked uncomfortable, and Jubilee sighed. "It's ok; you can go if you like. If you want to know what's going on though, stick around." She hopped the wall back onto the street and adjusted the utility belt over the shirt, cinching it in another few notches.

/X-Men return to the Penthouse/ Charles's command rang through Johnny and Jean-Claude's minds, and after a moment, Jubilee felt a small nudge on her shields as he requested her to relinquish control on her new power. /Jubilee, it is ok to return to the Penthouse. Remy and Logan are returning also…_Angelo_?/

He sounded shocked, and Jubilee sent back an affirmative, quickly raising her shields again. "Ange, we're heading back to the Penthouse. C'mon."

It took them nearly half an hour to reach the penthouse, including a stop at the nearest 24hr drugstore to get painkillers for Angelo and Jubilee. Angelo had been amazed to find a twenty dollar bill in his pocket, and when he commented on it, Jubilee shrugged indifferently. "You're wearing the same clothes you were when...you...you know...left. It's probably been in your pocket since then." She shrugged again, but wouldn't meet his eyes, and the young man didn't miss how she chose to walk on the far side of Johnny instead of next to him, and lead them on a longer than necessary journey back to the others.

When they reached the penthouse, Jubilee hung back as Johnny led the way through the front door, watching Angelo and Jean-Claude carefully to gauge their reaction; on the off chance that either of them were there for a different agenda and would go for the Orb. Angelo didn't even look around him, but he headed straight for Charles who was watching him warily. "Professor...? I...I don't...I didn't...I didn't mean to...what's...what do I do?"

Silence reigned in the room as Charles stared at him mutely, until he finally put his hand out and placed it on the younger man's shoulder. Angelo closed his eyes and hung his head as the telepath entered his mind, until finally, Charles lifted his second hand and rested it on Angelo's cheek. "Welcome home, Angelo." He murmured quietly, and Jubilee sagged with relief, covering her face with her hand. Johnny reached out to touch her shoulder, but she turned away and ran through the still open front door, slamming it behind her.

"Professor?" Angelo looked torn, and Charles nodded, silently giving him permission to follow her. He dashed after her, and Johnny finally cleared his throat.

"Where's everybody else?"

"On their way to put the orb with the others. Heather retrieved only a brief glimpse of the temple before her vision ended. Logan and Remy are escorting them...you took longer than anticipated to return."

Johnny sat down on the nearest couch and sighed. "I think Jubilee wanted to give Wolverine and Gambit enough time to get back here so there would be backup if it turned out Angelo was only faking it. Professor, this is Jean-Claude; Remy's cousin."

The thief sank down into the nearest chair and crossed his long legs, regarding Charles seriously. "Might dis humble tief wait for his cousin here? Or should he go on home and wait for him to call?"

Charles hid a smile and joined Johnny on the couch facing the thief. "You can wait here; they should be back soon."

XXXXX

"Jubilee! Wait up!" Angelo ran to catch up with her, and she dragged her arm out of his grip when he reached her.

"Don't!" She spat at him, and he was shocked to see the tears streaming down her cheeks. "Just don't, Angelo!"

"Don't what? Don't be here? Don't talk to you? What? What, chica?"

"Logan told me what He promised him; He said He'd be his family. Is that what He promised you too? So, what, we're not enough for you? _I'm _not enough for you? Was all this little sister crap just crap?" She turned away from him and began to walk fast, scrubbing the tears away from her cheeks as she sobbed miserably. "Damnit, Angelo, I thought you were...you were dead to me! I was going to kill you the next time I saw you, I thought I'd killed you! What kind of an X-Man am I?"

"A good one." He had to take long strides to keep up with her, and he had to fight the urge to put his hand on her shoulder. "Chica, an X-Man does not kill. You know that; same as I do; but sometimes...sometimes there's no choice. And you didn't kill me. I'm standing right here."

"I wanted to kill you." The whisper almost drove him to his knees and she stopped in front of a closed shop. "I was going to. The second I saw you, I was going to kill you...I wanted to with my own bare hands..."

"Chica...I don't know. I don't know what to say; I don't know what to do...I barely even know what's happened, or what's happening!" He waved his hands around, his face stricken. "I go to sleep one night, and have the same stupid dream that's been annoying me for weeks, and then suddenly I wake up and my body is on fire and I see you lying on the ground with some _monstruo_ freak that was gonna stick a knife in your chest! And then I realise that I have no clue what's going on, or how I even got there! And then Logan threatens to gut me, an' there's alarms going off an' people with weird eyes an'...Help me here, Jubes...I'm lost. I really am; I don't know...I'm trying to understand, Chica, but..." He let out a long breath and sat down on a flower planter, rubbing his face with his hands as he muttered in Spanish.

She couldn't hide the vulnerable expression in her eyes as she stared at him, and stood hunched in on herself, holding both elbows in a tight grip. She glared at a passerby that chose that moment to walk past and eye them suspiciously and then turned her glare back at Angelo. "So, what, you don't remember _anything_?"

"Nothing, hermanita. I remember _nothing_. I don't even know what day it is. I only get that we're in New York because that's where the professor's apartment is. I don't even know how I got here..."

There was a long, drawn-out silence, and she sat rigidly on the edge of the planter, keeping as much distance between the two of them as possible. "If you go bad again; I will kill you." She muttered, and he nodded, leaning his elbows on his thighs and letting his head hanging towards the ground.

"I would ask that you would do that, chica. If I...If I try to hurt you, or any of our friends again; take me out. Blast me to oblivion. I hurt you...and I don't like that. I don't want to be anybody's tool." He looked up, his eyes deadly serious. "And if you can't kill me, then get somebody else to do it. I get the feeling that Logan would have no problem doing it."

Jubilee snorted, but the vice-like grip on her heart began to ease, and when he slowly extended his hand, palm upwards, she hesitantly placed hers on it, her delicate fingers wrapping around his grey ones, tightening until both of their hands were white from the tightness of the emotion fuelling their grip. "I don't want to lose you again, Ange...I can't."

"You won't, chica."


	17. Divide and Conquer

**This is a nice, calm enough chapter - I hope you enjoy it ;)**

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**The count****er went from 39 to 38 without pause, continuing to 37 and then 36, and a frantic scramble continued through the gunmetal grey halls as soldiers scattered towards the escape pods; it was suddenly every man for himself as the seriousness of the situation became apparent as red and orange lights continued to flash signifying the impending doom. A disembodied voice at the helm announced once more that the self-destruct had been activated, and clipboards and olive-green caps lay discarded on the floor as one after another, escape pods launched themselves out into the clouds high above the Himalayan mountains …5…4…3…2…1…**

**In the last pod to launch, Captain Mayhew winced as his ****Helicarrier became engulfed in a massive fireball. He stared unblinking as his command exploded into a shower of deadly shrapnel that rained down onto the crisp white snow beneath them.**

"**Sir? What the hell just happened?" His second in command asked heatedly, still dressed in nothing but a pair of khaki boxers and the light vest he wore when sleeping. The grey haired Captain sighed and covered his face with his hands.**

"**They blew up the goddamned ship."**

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**/come to me...listen to my words...I will be the one-/**

Angelo sat up with a gasp, throwing the blanket away as he swung his legs over the side of the sofa. He pressed his face into his hands with a shudder, finally recognising the dream for what it was. The insidious touch of Ehecatl on his mind still made his skin crawl and his stomach rebel. He'd been free from him for six hours. Six short hours after what seemed like a lifetime of unfathomable, forgotten darkness. And now it was obvious that this 'God' was trying to get him back.

Scrubbing at his face, he got to his feet and walked to the sliding door out onto the balcony overlooking Manhattan. The sun was just barely above the horizon, painting the city with an eerie grey light. "I'm not letting you in, _bastardo._" He muttered, his face stoic as he looked out over the skyline. "You aren't going to win this fight."

"But _we_ will." Charles murmured from behind him. Angelo whirled around to find the Professor sitting in a comfortable wicker chair, a cup of coffee in one hand and an laptop open on the table in front of him. "He has been in your dreams again?"

Angelo nodded, a guilty look on his face. "Si, Professor. But I know him for what he is now. I'll not cave this time. I will be strong." His hands clenched by his sides, and Charles frowned at the tenseness that permeated his body.

"Tigra also experienced some disturbing dreams the first few nights after she returned...after she regained consciousness following the surgeries. They stopped after a day or two. I have spoken about it with other telepaths; we believe that Ececatl may be stretching himself. It takes a strong mind to control a mutation; and an even stronger one to control telepathy. While He has collected a strong arsenal of bodies to follow his will, it may be more than he can comfortably handle. We believe this is why there are so few at every attack. He has to work hard to control them, and keep control over the others he has Taken."

"That makes me feel a little better." The Latino admitted with a wry smile. He sat in the seat beside the Professor, unwilling to go back to sleep. "Where did Gambit and his cousin go?"

"Remy and Jean-Claude are performing some cleanup work after what happened at the Museum."

"Cleanup?"

"Deleting security footage from inside the Museum and the surrounding buildings. It would not do for us to be displayed on the News." He smiled thinly and shut the laptop. "And you and Jubilation?"

"Chica knows that if I go 'dark' again, she's to take me out. That goes for everybody else, too. I don't want to be used as a tool against my friends."

Hidden by the heavy curtains that lined the windows, Logan put his lighter and cigar back into his pocket and nodded grudgingly. He and Remy had left Heather and Violet back on the Helicarrier for the night, to return to the mansion with the transport that was slowly ferrying people from the mansion. When he'd gone into her room, he'd found her asleep, her face serene in slumber for once, and he sat in the chair beside the bed, covering himself with a blanket. A few hours later, he was still too het up on adrenalin to sleep, and now had no qualms about listening in on the conversation. As Angelo fell silent again, Charles opened the laptop once more and began to read, leaving the younger man to his thoughts. /and will you do what Jubilation could not do tonight?/ he silently asked, and Logan let out a heavy sigh.

/and let her have killin' him on her conscience fer the rest of her life?/ he sent back angrily. /she shouldn't have to suffer more than she already has. If I'm there, I'll take him out. Tell Cyke that he's to do the same. And Remy...dammit, all of 'em/

XXXX

When dawn arrived, Logan escorted Jubilee, Charles and Angelo to the Helicarrier. When they landed in the hanger, she emerged onto the landing pad with a strange feeling of apprehension in her chest, her eyes following Charles as he made quickly for the nearest door, a look that warned of trouble on his face.

It was the first time that she had ever been there on official business; in reality it was the first time she'd ever been there with Fury's express permission – other than her unauthorised visit to get Fury's attention, the only other time she'd stepped foot on its decks was when Logan had visited him looking for information on something neither man would discuss with her – even then, Logan hadn't exactly been a welcomed guest…at least, not if you went by the number of guns that had been pointed at them when they'd disembarked the X-Jet.

This time, there was no skulking in corners, and no guns pointed directly at her. Angelo, however was another matter…

He held his hands up as the last of the guns rose and stepped in front of Jubilee in case they opened fire and couldn't find the right target; or even worse, decided she was a target too. Logan's sharp bark at them to 'put the goddamned guns down you fuckwits, he's on our side' quickly did its job, as did Jubilee shoving him aside and Sue Richards hastily erected force field around the group.

Logan brushed past them, grumbling beneath his breath, and they followed, Angelo painfully aware of the impromptu armed escort they received. "This is going to happen everywhere, isn't it?" Angelo muttered, and Jubilee shrugged.

"Let's just agree that this is half because of you and partly because of me." She replied. "If you remember, the last time I was here, I was being chased and might have kicked Diablo in the face…oh wait…you weren't here for that. I snuck up here to get Fury's attention when SHIELD weren't answering. I kicked Diablo-you remember him, right, well, I may have kicked him in the face to get away 'cos he was about to shoot me…you've really missed a lot, y'know?"

"The Professor filled me in on a lot of it last night, Chica…where are we going?"

"Command Deck." Logan and Jubilee chorused, though Logan's was more snapped, and she picked up the pace so she was walking beside her surrogate father.

"Wolvie, you ok?" She asked quiet enough for only him to hear. He nodded, but glanced down at her.

"Better be asking you that question." He grumbled, and she shrugged.

"I'm done with being shocked; and I'm done with being pissed. I'm seeing what taking life as it comes does. Just…rolling with the punches. Yesterday, Angelo was bad. Today, Angelo is good."

"And tomorrow?" he asked softly.

"Tomorrow, I might have to kill him." She replied softly. "But since he was dead to me yesterday…any extra time with him is better than none. Right?" She looked up at him for confirmation, and he had to resist the urge to drag her against him and hug the life out of her in front of all the SHIELD soldiers. He needed her to keep her hard-ass exterior up so she could be taken seriously by the Grunts surrounding them. Something had changed in a very short amount of time; he could feel it, and all his senses were humming. Jubilee picked up on his change in mood, attitude and posture and adjusted her mind-set accordingly. Something was definitely going down.

They arrived on the Command Deck with no incidents, and Angelo kept meekly to the back as they moved towards the large chart detailing the location of everyone they knew wasn't turned. At a dirty glance from Fury, he stepped back a few steps, and jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "You want maybe I should go?" He asked carefully, and Fury nodded, clearly distrustful.

"Dum Dum, get him out of here." He snapped, and Angelo left as meekly as he'd entered. The Colonel looked at Jubilee to see her reaction, but instead she stepped closer to the list showing those who were marked as Turned.

"The girl got nothing from the stone." Fury muttered, and Jubilee shrugged, beginning to leaf through the documents on the table in front of them.

"You got leads on others, though." She murmured finally, picking up a piece of paper that was immediately snatched from her hand.

"Some. Mostly from Katherine Pryde and Kurt Wagner." He confirmed, putting the page into a folder.

"Care to share?" She asked snippily, and he glared at her.

"The rest of the mutants are down on Deck 2. Why don't you go visit. Logan, go too. I got work to do."

The Canadian's eyes narrowed and a shiver drove down the spine of one of their escorts as he saw an identical expression on the girls face. As Jubilee exited the door to the elevator, a quiet 'Dickhead' could clearly be heard throughout the room, and Logan barely held in a snort.

"Don't take it personal, kid. Fury's always held his cards close."

"He doesn't trust me because of Angelo." She snapped, folding her arms across her chest as the elevator descended.

"He doesn't trust anybody, kid, not even himself. Never has. Even Dum Dum's got a short enough leash."

Jubilee snorted as the doors opened to reveal a large group of uniformed mutants sitting and standing around, looking very, very bored. "And it looks like he really appreciates us being here." She muttered dryly, leading the way into the large room, and Logan followed, a sinking feeling in his stomach. They made a bee-line straight for the corner where Charles and Storm were talking quietly.

Jubilee stayed behind Logan as they approached, unconsciously adopting the 'faithful sidekick' pose that usually left her unnoticed and able to listen in.

"Logan." Charles greeted him seriously, as though they hadn't seen each other in several days.

"What's the game plan?"

Charles sighed and looked around the room with troubled eyes. "I am inclined to pull everyone back to the mansion. We are doing nothing here, and from what Storm has told me, we are being kept completely in the dark, so to speak, since last night."

Jubilee looked up at Storm, not surprised to see that the usually serene woman was looking annoyed. "All mutants that had been assigned rooms temporarily were asked to gather here in the middle of the night. All those who were transferred here during the night and today were brought straight here. All mutants including the Team Leaders have been banned from accessing any of the essential command decks. I have been unable to speak with Colonel Fury, and there is great unrest…"

"I can't blame them. At least back at the mansion everybody can leave and do things…" Logan grumbled, and Jubilee was sure that if he'd been wearing a gun, his hand would have been resting on it. "Where's Skin?"

Jubilee's eyes narrowed, and she looked around, unable to see him anywhere. "I can't see him. Professor, Dum Dum took him away."

Charles's chin rose slightly and his eyes closed as he searched through the decks. After a moment they snapped open again and he strode away, gesturing for Logan to follow. Jubilee desperately wanted to come with them, but Storm put a hand on her shoulder, silently warning her to stay put. "Whatever it is, they will deal with it."

Jubilee nodded with a heavy sigh and sat down on the ground, looking around properly. "There aren't even chairs!" She exclaimed, and Storm sighed, sitting cross-legged beside her as Logan left to talk to a black-clad man standing in a corner on his own.

"That is only part of the problem." She confided softly. "No sleeping quarters; the toilets and shower areas are uni-sex which is not sitting well with some of the more…sensitive mutants; not all women, mind you. We are being kept completely out of the loop with everything. I couldn't even tell you which part of the country we are currently over. And to finish it all off, the soldiers are looking decidedly uncomfortable at having so many of us here."

Jubilee made a face and settled back against the wall while Storm made small talk until Charles returned and made a silent order. As one, most of the mutants in the room stood and made their way to the door, and after a few moments, those that had hesitated followed, sending the watching guards dirty looks.

Jubilee threaded her way through the crowd at the door, slipping unnoticed until she reached Logan and Charles who were standing with Angelo. "What's going on?"

"We are pulling everyone back to the Mansion. There will only be Mutants on board if there is to be a mission involving SHIELD, and a small force of approved personnel if SHIELD are holding one of the Orbs." Charles murmured calmly, though his eyes showed a different story.

"Where was Angelo?" She quietly demanded, and her sharp eyes spotted a look in Angelo's eyes. "Oh, you have gotta be kidding me! They were _experimenting_ on him!"

Angelo nodded mutely, his face troubled, and Logan began to growl again. "They were doin' tests."

"They will not touch him again; it was not done by Colonel Fury's order. Dum Dum was interrupted bringing him here, and the soldier that took him to the laboratory will be disciplined; I have Fury's express agreement on that. I am just glad that they did not have access to Tigra. Angelo, I cannot believe I am saying this, but if they try to do so again against your will, you have my express permission to fight it. You should not have to submit to anything like that without your leave." Charles sounded angry, and visibly had to take control of himself. "Fury is also aware that we are departing the Helicarrier. Logan, take Angelo back to the Landing Bay; I want him off this ship and back home as quickly as possible. Jubilation, will you please join Storm and me for a moment?"

Jubilee nodded and followed him out of the door, waiting for the rest of the instructions to be given. Charles walked unseen past the guards, and Jubilee realised that he was shielding their movements from them. "Professor…what's going on?" She asked in a low whisper when the doors to a small office shut behind them.

He reached into his pocket and retrieved a small portable hard drive and cables. "I want you to go through his systems and find anything to do with what is going on right now. SHIELD are not sharing information with us, and Fury is being more close-mouthed than ever. I need to know what they know."

Jubilee took it with a guarded look on her face, and quickly hacked into the computer system using the back-door programme she'd found when trying to hack them the first time. It was as easy as before, and she shook her head as she started transferring data. "Professor, honestly? How could things have changed so much in just a few days?"

"One of the smaller helicarriers blew up over Asia last night. They believe it was sabotage." Charles murmured softly, and Storm's head whipped around to stare at him. "Fury was going to tell us; he just had his mind on other matters. Someone activated the Self-Destruct and rigged it so that they couldn't turn it off. They lost no lives, but it was a big loss. They have also located twelve more Taken, all from within the ranks of SHIELD. Logan has the Orbs secreted around his person and is bringing them back to the Mansion. They will continue to test the one taken last night as it has not revealed anything out of the ordinary from Heather's touch. This is also with Fury's agreement."

Jubilee cursed softly beneath her breath and began to work faster, her fingers flickering across the keys. The second she was done, she unhooked the drive and handed it over before erasing all trace of her having been in the system. It took longer than hacking in had, and when she was done, she wiped away a bead of sweat. "Let's get out of here. Being surrounded by so many guns is making me nervous."

They hurried to the Landing Bay to find that the long line of mutants had dwindled. They were packing themselves into the transports as quickly as possible, standing and sitting in the aisles and against the walls, most not wanting to stay in the hostile environment any longer. Charles slipped Jubilee onto the next one to leave, tucking the hard drive into the waist-band of her jeans underneath her jacket as he said goodbye. She acted as though he always hugged her goodbye, and winked at Storm as the door closed. Turning, she realised that the transport was packed to the gills and folded her arms in front of her chest, leaning against the heavily built man next to her.

By the time they set down on the lawn to the mansion, she was sitting on the floor, was twenty bucks up and holding a very decent hand of cards. As the landing struts hit the grass, they all shook their heads and laid out their cards, and Jubilee shrugged, pushing the pot towards the man she'd leant against. He grinned and scooped up his winnings.

She bypassed everybody standing in line and ran to the elevator, pressing the button repeatedly until the doors opened and she could dart inside. She trotted down the halls to Scott's office and found it empty. It wasn't surprising that he wasn't there since everybody that they'd been so carefully shipping out in small batches were returning in droves, so she plugged in the hard drive and settled down in a chair behind his desk, beginning to filter through what she'd gleaned. He arrived back over an hour later to find she'd already sectioned off new information and categorised what she'd found. "Jubilee, suit up; you and Kitty are going back to New York."

She stared at him for a moment before nodding slowly. "What for? Need more info, boss man."

"We've had a lead on one of the orbs. Kitty and Kurt have managed to track down the rest of the Estate of Crispin McGee."

"But…."

"I know. Fury's just gotten the rest of the results back from his lab and decided to share." His tone was laden with sarcasm and she internally winced; Fury would have to do a lot of work to repair the insults delivered in the past 24 hours. "The Orb we retrieved from the Museum appears to be a reproduction. His Techs think it was only made in the last 50 years – there's still some machine tool marks on it. Go on, Jubilee; they're waiting for you. Oh, and no word to anyone on this. After last night, we're the only ones that know."

Jubilee nodded and shrugged off her jacket. "Ok Bossman. See you later."

Scott smiled grimly, but was already engrossed in his computer screen before she'd even reached the door. She rushed through a shower, and when she emerged wrapped in a towel, she found Kitty sitting in a pin-stripe suit jacket and skirt, looking every part a professional secretary.

"Um, Kitty-Kat…that doesn't look like any uniform I've ever seen…unless you've started doing things differently in England…" She began hesitantly, and Kitty rolled her eyes, pointing to a dress bag hanging from one of the lockers.

"Yours is in that. We're going to be office workers; I hacked into the systems of Hanson, Hanson and McGee and registered them as having two temps starting in their legal department. That would be you and me, since we're the only two in the place that can either touch-type to any degree of proficiency or use a photocopier without blowing it up…though…"

"Jeeze, you blow up one toaster and you're marked for life." She grumbled, unzipping the bag and getting dressed.

"Eighteen toasters before you left for the School; Scott kept track." Kitty smirked and started to laugh as Jubilee's shoulders slumped. "After the third one, he started putting little marks on the inside of the cupboard beside the door to the back passage. Don't look at me like that, Jubes. They're still there. Um, can you lose the…." She waved her hand around her hair, and Jubilee began to growl, smoothing down her hair until it was passably professional. She put on the shoes and carefully made up her face before turning in a slow circle.

"Do I pass muster?"

"You'd better; we're already late."

"How the hell can we be late? It's only-"

"Night shift do filing. C'mon, it's time to go. Perfect time for snooping, and Kurt is waiting to fly us to the penthouse. You'll be running interference while I search."

Kurt was sitting in the pilot's seat looking tired; his ears were drooping, and it was obvious that he hadn't slept all night. He assured them that he was ok to fly the mini-jet, and they arrived in record time, setting down without a hitch.

They made their way by cab to the large office building in the heart of Manhattan, and Jubilee sighed as the elevator rose high into the sky. "Do you know; this will be the first honest day's work I've ever done?"

Kitty looked at her strangely and shook her head as the doors finally opened. "Jubilee, don't ever change." She advised her, and Jubilee smirked.

"Don't worry, Pride, I have no intention…good god, she looks like a battleaxe…"

Kitty refrained from agreeing as they walked up to the reception desk. A woman with a face only a mother could love was standing with a clipboard looking at them as though they were insects.

"You are late." She snapped, checking her watch, and as Kitty began to bristle, Jubilee stepped in front of her, making her eyes wide and vulnerable.

"I'm very sorry, ma'am. Our Agency gave us the wrong start time. We will of course be staying the extra time at the end of the shift to make sure that no one is out of pocket." Her meek tone seemed to mollify the woman, and she shuffled a handful of cards, handing them two. You are filing, you," She gestured to Kitty, "follow me."

Jubilee rolled her eyes and wandered down the corridor until she reached a large room filled with stacks of files and cabinets that lined the walls. Picking up the first file, she cursed beneath her breath and her shoulders slumped.

"It's ok." A young woman piped up from behind a big stack. "The time actually goes quite quickly. Give the Queen of Darkness ten minutes and she'll be gone home too. After that, I usually turn on a radio…I don't know why they hired you, though; I can get all this done myself."

Jubilee nodded mutely and ran her finger over the file number; a form of numbers dyslexia had plagued her school years, making anything to do with numbers a horrible chore. "Why couldn't it have been alphabetical…" she muttered under her breath. It took her a few minutes of being ultra careful to put the files in the right order to remember that she wasn't actually there to do filing, and she began just giving the files a cursory glance before opening a random drawer and stuffing the folder into an empty spot. Mandy began to chatter, and she soon lost herself in the drudgery that was office work.

Kitty on the other hand, suddenly found herself with free reign within the offices, and made her way to the door with the nameplate 'McGee'. She entered with caution, and was pleased to find it empty of both Lawyers and Crispin McGee's only surviving Grandchild. She gathered a few files into the crook of her arm to make it look like she was working, and began phasing her head through various surfaces to see if there were any hidden compartments. After an hour, she'd checked every available surface, and she sat down on a chair with a sigh.

In the filing room, Jubilee stuffed the last folder into a cabinet and dusted off her hands. "Now what?"

Mandy held up a stack of papers. "These get photocopied. The copier is over there. You know how to use it?"

Jubilee nodded and began taking the staples out of the papers, speed reading through the pages as she fed them into the machine. "I wonder what we'd do without these…" she murmured beneath her breath, and Mandy chuckled.

"You know, I never wondered that, but I've always wondered if I could set a laser printer to stun." She laughed and continued binding booklets of legal documents. "I thought I wanted a career in Law, but it turned out that all I wanted was a salary. There's a reason I work the night-shift. Once everybody's gone, you have the place to yourself. What about you?"

Jubilee thought for a moment and shrugged. "I don't know. I guess that's why I'm a temp. Haven't exactly worked out a career plan other than 'survive'."

Mandy nodded understandingly as the door opened and Kitty entered gesturing for her to follow. Jubilee turned off the copier. "Well, it was nice meeting you Mandy. You know, you're right. There's more to life than office work. I think I'm going to jack in the office work and open a dojo." She stapled the last few pages that had come out of the machine and handed them over to the wide-eyed secretary.

Once outside on the street, Jubilee shuddered. "Well, I might not know what I'm going to do if all this ever works out, but I know I'm sure as hell not going to work in an office. Three paper cuts. And they hurt." She held up a finger, and Kitty couldn't help but laugh.

"Suck it up, superhero, or you'll be sidelined. It wasn't in his office; I checked some of the others, but there was no sign of the Orb." She unbuttoned her jacket and tucked it under her arm. "I'll call the Professor when we get back." She added after she'd checked her watch. "It's only 1am."

They fell into an easy step as they walked, and Jubilee found herself absently window-shopping, marking in her mind where a pair of knee high boots was on sale. "Not that I'll ever get to buy them." She grumbled aloud, and Kitty glanced over at her.

"What?"

Jubilee shook her head. "Sorry. It's just something that that secretary said to me. I honestly don't know what I'd do if I wasn't doing this, y'know? And then I saw those boots in the window, and they're 50 percent off on sale…and I thought to myself 'I must go back there and get them when the store's open'. Only I won't get to. I couldn't tell you when I got to go shopping properly. Every stitch of clothing I have was either bought in the department store in Snow Valley or from the Internet…I dunno…it kinda makes you think…"

Kitty nodded understandingly. "You're what, seventeen? You've just finished school. Of course you're thinking. We all have. Hell, why do you think Bobby is an Accountant? Scott's a Lawyer, Jean is a Doctor; so is Beast, of course. I've got a couple of degrees under my belt with Applied Technology and Computer Science. Le Beau's got his thievery, and…most of us have something. Really a dojo?"

Jubilee had to back track a little to understand her question, and shrugged. "I dunno. That just came out of nowhere." She stuck her hands into her jacket pockets and shrugged again, blowing out a long breath. "If none of this had happened, I'd have been in the Olympics two years ago. I might have won a gold medal. Mom and dad would have been in the stands, watching. That would have been good. Then I could have continued with a gymnastics career, and eventually been a coach."

Kitty blinked as Jubilee continued to walk with a distant, thoughtful look on her face and fell into step with her again. "Jubilee…you're scaring me."

Jubilee looked up at her with a wide grin and shook her head. "Don't worry about me, Kit-Kat. So, what do you think the next step will be?"

"Call home.." Kitty replied frankly as Jubilee tucked her arm through the older girls and they fell into step together. "Home, and probably tomorrow night, we go to this guy's home and ransack it the mutant way."

"Telepath to make sure they're asleep, somebody uber good at phasing through stuff to look through the cabinets and a pretty, charming young gymnast/ninja/thief to go through the rooms?" Jubilee grinned again and Kitty nodded, beginning to grin herself.

"Sounds like a plan."

**XXXXXXXX**

"Now, lets see if we can complete a mission without a fight this time." Emma muttered as she and Kurt brought the Jet to hover over the grand house in Long Island. It was nestled between two swathes of woodland, and the White Queen frowned as she brought the small jet down in a clearing not too far away. Behind her, Jubilee, Paige, Dash and Kitty clambered into their uniforms, and Emma hid a smile as Dash was warned three separate times to keep his head turned the other way.

Emma pulled on her gloves and nodded to the four of them. "I suspect at least two of you are wondering why you are here?"

Jubilee and Kitty sat back down, leaving Paige and Dash looking mystified. "We're not here to pick up Nightbear?"

Kurt smiled kindly and shook his head. "No. Ve haf decided that further missions are to be conducted in secret. For now, at least. I vill bring you to ze roof, but I must go back to ze Mansion. Emma vil be gone only a short time to bring me back to New York."

Jubilee nodded, making sure her boots were on snugly. "Got it, Kurt. Emma, you doing your mojo before we go in?"

Emma nodded as Kurt took a hold of Paige and Dash's hands and disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. "Jubilee, Kitty, you know what to do. Be careful."

Jubilee nodded as Kurt reappeared and the jet disappeared before being replaced with a flat roof. "Good luck, Katchen." The blue furred mutant murmured, giving Kitty a brief kiss on the cheek, and winked at Jubilee before disappearing again.

Turning, she found Dash looking decidedly green and smirked at the reaction to his first time being teleported. "Kit; you take the North Wing and I'll take this one."

Kitty nodded and loped away from them across the flat roof towards the peaked area. "Doesn't she want someone-" Dash began, but Jubilee shook her head.

"Nah, she's good on her own…I need the two of you to get me to the attic window right below us."

"Jubilee; I don't like being kept in the dark like this." Paige murmured, and Jubilee nodded understandingly as the jet rose from the woods behind them and disappeared back towards New York. Instead of waiting until the following night, Charles had sent Emma and the others to pick them up without letting them know what they were getting themselves in to.

"North Wing is more like offices; it has a lot of storage areas too, which have a lot of Crispin McGee's belongings. We searched the office first because it was the easiest option, and the Big Shots thought that somebody vain enough to commission a bust of himself would have something like that displayed on his desk or something. No such luck. You two are to stay up here while Kitty and I tiptoe through the house. Remy'd be doing it if he hadn't disappeared with his cousin yesterday. Man, he's in so much trouble when he gets back." She grumbled, and shook her head when Paige's eyes widened.

"He did call to say what he was doing, but he was pretty vague about it. Charles is sure he isn't Turned. Now, grab my ankles."

She didn't give them much of a chance to act as she dropped to her knees and snaked over the edge of the roof. Paige grabbed her ankles, and Dash hurried to anchor her down as the light teenager strained to reach the window.

As Paige stared at the soles of Jubilee's feet, she wondered what she'd be doing if she was a normal, regular human being instead of being a girl who just happened to be able to remove a layer of her skin to produce another layer made out of a different material, who also just happened to be a member of a team of superheroes bent on saving the world.

Would she be holding the ankles of a girl dangling over the edge of a roof, trying to jimmy open a window? Probably not. Would she be playing thief at three in the morning on a clear, starry night? More than likely not. She would be back home on the farm, lying in her bed, wondering what her life would be like if it were more exciting. Well, this was exciting and now she was wondering what life would be like if she were at home in her bed…

Sighing, she adjusted her grip and felt Dash do the same with her ankles as he anchored her.

"Jubes, how are we doing?"

"I don't know about you but I've just picked the lock. Swing me in." Jubilee hissed, and Paige began to swing her back and forth until Jubilee swung inside the window. The girl landed lightly and Paige sat up, glancing at Dash as he looked relieved. "Step one down, step two on its way."

Inside, Jubilee scouted out the room she'd entered. It was an attic room, and she hoped to god that the doors weren't locked. Treading lightly, she managed to make her way through the shadows to the door and opened it, wincing as a loud creak echoed in the small space. Whether or not Emma had sent everyone to sleep, it didn't do to make a racket. Both Remy and Logan would have her hide.

After a lengthy pause to see if anyone had heard, she quickly padded through the house, heading straight for the study that had been identified on the plans. It was the first place she could think that the young 30 something man would keep it on display.

Feeling around the room with her newest power, she felt nothing other than a soft hum from the laptop sitting atop the antique desk he'd obviously inherited, and from the electronically controlled safe underneath the carpet.

Kneeling, she made short work of the lock and shut it again with a frustrated growl. Where the hell was it?

Forty minutes later, she was padding through the halls having gone through every cupboard in the kitchen and dining room, two sitting rooms, a child's play-room, laundry room, downstairs bathroom and now she was proceeding to guest bedrooms. Several steps past an open door, she blinked and backed back, a frown on her face. Bingo was his name-o. Only there was a small problem. Aged about six…

Jubilee entered the room and quietly shut the door, crossing to the window and opening it so she would have an immediate escape route if things hit the fan either figuratively or literally. When she turned around, she found the little girl staring at her, the wide-eyed.

"Are you the tooth fairy?" The girl whispered breathlessly, and Jubilee shook her head.

"Sorry, kid, I'm not."

"Then why are you in my room?" The girl frowned and looked prepared to scream. Jubilee frowned in the half-light coming from the nightlight and realized that the girls eyes were a vivid orange, and her nose was a small nub on her face. A tail poked out from beneath her nightgown, and Jubilee smiled, realizing why the Emma must have missed the little girl's mental imprint; she was a cat-like mutant.

"Listen, I'm not gonna beat around the bush – lie to you." Jubilee amended when the frown grew. "I'm here to borrow that orb you are hugging. It's very, very important, and my friends and I need it for a little while."

The little girl blinked at her and looked down at the orb that was nestled in the crook of her arm. "Why do you need it?"

Jubilee could see the spark of intelligence in the little girl's eyes and she her smile grew slightly as she sat at the end of the bed. Keeping her voice low and whispered she looked at her frankly, seeing the small measure of happiness in the little girl's face that she wasn't treating her like a child.

"Are you afraid of monsters?"

The girl nodded, her eyebrows gathering together.

"Are you afraid of the dark?"

The little girl's eyes flickered towards the nightlight that illuminated the room and nodded again.

"Ok, kid. Here's the truth; while the monsters under your bed aren't real, there are some out there and it's my job to stop them. Well, my friends and me, anyhow. There's one really bad dude out there right now, and we've got him cornered, but we need to find all of the orbs that your great granddaddy and his friend's found a long time ago, so we can stop this bad dude from being bad any more. And when we are done, I'll bring them back…"

The girl's frown grew even more and she hugged the orb tighter. "Daddy gave this to me."

Jubilee nodded solemnly. "I know. And he gave you a big responsibility when he gave it to you. I'll bet he told you to keep it safe because it is so important…The name is Jubilee, by the way. What's yours?"

"Amanda."

"Nice to meet you, Amanda." Jubilee held out her hand and the little girl shook hers, still slightly dubious.

"How will you fight them?" She whispered curiously and Jubilee raised her hand, palm facing the ceiling.

"I'll let you in on a little secret. I'm afraid of the dark, too. But I got my own little nightlight." She let a handful of low-charged sparks flow up into the air with a conspiratorial smile and the girl giggled before clamping her hand over her mouth.

"If you can do that, then why do you want this?" Amanda sat up properly with the orb between her legs, both tiny hands splayed across its surface.

"Because…" Jubilee thought hard for a moment before making herself comfortable. "I'm going to talk to you like an adult, ok? 'Cos this isn't a kiddie conversation. There's good and there's bad. Light an' Dark. And we need the light to overwhelm the dark. Now my sparks, they're only good for so much. They just aren't bright enough. But that orb there, is thing we know of that might help us stop him. If we can work out what to do with them, then we'll beat him."

Amanda's eyes went wide and Jubilee put her hand on her foot comfortingly. "Don't worry, Amanda. This dark guy, he's not gonna come near you. I promise. He's only concerned with my friends right now. He's too busy fighting with us to make any trouble for other people. I promise."

"My daddy won't be happy if I lose it." Amanda murmured, and Jubilee shook her head, reaching into the pouch she carried at her side.

"He won't know I even took it. This is a copy of it. Look how alike they are." Jubilee put it onto the sheet and Amanda peered closely at it. "I'll even bring it back when I'm done if we can."

"You won't forget?"

Jubilee shook her head. "Of course not. I won't forget sweetheart."

Amanda surprised her by launching into her arms and hugging her tightly and Jubilee smiled, closing her eyes as she felt the ferocity of the little girl's hold. "I promise, Amanda. I'll be back. I might even give you a little display with my fireworks if everything goes right. Just one thing, though. This has to be our little secret, do you understand? Your mother and father won't understand it if you tell them. They'll think I stole the orb and the police will be looking for me because they'll think I'm a thief and I won't be able to give it back to you."

Amanda drew back and nodded seriously. "I won't tell on you. I'm Mitzi Thomas's BFF and I know lots of her secrets that I haven't told anyone. I promise."

Jubilee smiled again and gave her another quick hug before putting the real orb into the pouch. "Thanks, Amanda. I'll see you soon."

Amanda winked and lay down on the bed, and in a sudden maternal moment, Jubilee pulled the covers up and tucked her in tightly, giving her a quick kiss in the forehead. The girl seemed to fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, and Jubilee shook her head in amazement, wondering what it was like to just fall asleep like that when you weren't exhausted or injured.

Poking her head out the window, she looked up to see Paige and Dash peering down at her from the roofline and she pointed at the tree that butted up against the old building. Paige nodded, and both heads withdrew as they made their way to their own escape route. Once she was down on the ground, she activated her communicator and told Kitty to bug out. Paige and Dash carefully made their way down the side of the building using the old cast-iron drainpipe as a ladder, and as they hurried to catch up with her, Kitty appeared through the nearest wall, a question in her eyes.

Jubilee nodded and turned her back on the building, trotting towards the clearing. When they got there, Emma was already warming up the engines, and Jubilee let go of her extra awareness with relief.

"Successful?"

Jubilee nodded, holding up the pouch. "In a way, but I think we'd better get the heck out of dodge. I don't know how much I can trust the little girl not to dob me in." She grinned in a cat-like way before continuing; "Although she said that she's Mitzi Thomas's BFF and she hasn't told any of her secrets…"

"Little girl?" Emma asked sharply as Paige slipped into the co-pilots seat and took over guiding the jet into the air.

"You missed someone. Amanda, aged 6; orange hair, eyes and a tail."

Emma cursed vehemently and the others scrabbled to strap themselves in as she took over the controls and violently banked the jet, setting a course for home. Kitty and Paige kept their thoughts completely neutral until the jet landed and Emma stabbed at buttons shutting down the engines, not wanting to infuriate the White Queen any further.

"Jubilee, bring it to Summers." She snapped, undoing her harness and quickly disappearing out the hatch.

"Uh…"

"It's ok, Dash; you get used to it." Paige murmured, turning in the pilots seat. "She's pissed because she missed someone. It could have been an adult Feral, it could have been one of the Taken and she basically sent us into harms way without double checking. I'd stay out of her way for the next day or two if I were you; she's going to be…"

"Sharp." Jubilee murmured, undoing Dash's harness for him. He still had a white-knuckle grip on the straps from the hair-raising landing. "It's ok, Dash. Why don't you go take a shower and get some sleep. We'll deliver our booty to Scott."

Dash nodded and stumbled out of the jet, leaving Jubilee and Kitty sniggering at his reaction while Paige shook her head. "You two could be a bit nicer, you know. It's his first time being in a jet with Emma piloting while mad." She murmured, and Jubilee shook her head.

"You couldn't see his face when she flipped the jet." Jubilee laughed and Kitty tugged her out of her seat, phasing them so they could drift down through the hull of the jet to the floor of the hanger. Still giggling, and slightly high on the euphoria from a successful mission with no attacks, they ran through the walls hand in hand, startling more than one person as they went about their nightly duties.

Emerging in Scott's office, they took one look at each other before bursting into laughter again, startling Scott out of a cat-nap. Jubilee unhooked the pouch from her belt and handed it over with a cocky salute, still sniggering, and he blinked the sleep out of his eyes. "What's so funny?"

"Um…avoid Emma. She's really pissed…and I don't know why I'm laughing 'cos Paige is right; that could have been an adult Feral, or a Taken…" Kitty's laughter faded slightly and she nodded, but shrugged. "It's still the look on poor Dash's face. I mean, when she flipped the jet, yeah, but did you see his face when she put it into a nosedive to miss Tradewind…" she wiped at her eyes and sighed with a slight chuckle. "Sorry, Scott. I think I'm over-tired. We'll do out a mission report, but pretty much nothing happened other than encountering a 6 year old Feral who was immune to Emma putting her to sleep."

Scott looked down at the orb in his hand and nodded, his eyes knitting together at the implications of her words. "Emma missed her?"

"Completely. Don't yell at her, Scott. I have a feeling she's already giving herself a pretty good tongue lashing as it is." Jubilee murmured as a sudden yawn took over. "What's next, Kemosabe?"

"Bed for you two. I'll go wake Heather and Charles and see what's in this thing." Scott tightened his grip around the stone and weighed it in his hand. "I'll let you know if there's anything on it, but you both need some sleep. Kitty, I want you back to searching on the others in the morning; whenever you wake up. Kurt is gone to Australia with Bob Parr and Bobby; Cougar needs to be extracted. Got himself into trouble with the local authorities. Jubilee, would you give her a hand?"

"Remy turned up yet?" Jubilee asked as Kitty opened the door, and Scott rolled his eyes.

"He's home. Jean-Claude had a lead on what he thought might be an orb." He gestured to the filing cabinet where a decorative stone ball, much like the ones Jubilee had on her windowsill was sitting. "He thought it worth the risk to go on his own."

"I take it it's nothing?" Kitty asked, and Scott nodded, picking it up and tossing it carefully to Jubilee.

"Here; you can add it to your collection." He told her dryly and she smiled, liking the colours running through the marble. She frowned when she saw a glitter running through it and Scott cleared his throat awkwardly.

"That's diamond. It was in someone's collection, and Remy refuses to return it. He wouldn't explain; said something about dogs." He shrugged, and Jubilee and Kitty left him to deal with the arrival of the new Orb. They walked slowly through the halls; neither inclined to hurry as they were both tired. The halls in the main mansion were far from silent, but those that passed went about their business quietly as it was still the small hours of the night.

As they mounted the stairs for their respective rooms, a low growl made Jubilee's eyes narrow, and she turned just in time to see the woman they'd just passed launch herself at her, her body rippling as it moved through the air to take the form of a large black Big Cat. Without thinking, she threw the stone ball directly at the Puma's head as Kitty grabbed her wrist and phased them both. The ball hit the cat's skull with a loud crack, and it fell through their now intangible bodies to lie limply on the stairs.

"Nice shot…" Kitty murmured, stepping out of the Puma's body as it reverted back to its original form. People hurriedly responded to the sound of the Big Cat's angry growl and stared in shock at the body on the stairs. Apogee bent and retrieved the ball, looking at it speculatively, but Jubilee shook her head.

"It's not what we're after. Just a decorative stone ball…keep it if you want. I don't really want it back." Jubilee announced, her face screwed up in disgust at what she'd just done. "I'm too tired to deal with this shit." She groaned, sitting down on a step, holding her head in her hand. "Is she still alive?"

Holding the ball in one hand, Apogee knelt down and felt for a pulse, nodding. "Yep." She rolled her over and nodded slowly. "Callis: Janet Callis. Turns into a puma." She thumbed back the eyelids just in time to see a black film slide away to reveal unfocused amber eyes. "Nice one, kid. We didn't even know she was Turned."

Jubilee groaned again and looked up mournfully at Kitty. "Just one full night's sleep. Uninterrupted. That's all I ask. Just one."

* * *

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	18. Orb of Kemet

It was a small room, and it was filled with some very, very big men dressed in khaki SHIELD uniforms. One looked highly disgruntled, and glared at Fury as he entered.

"Mayhew, stop glaring at me like that. You'll get your new ship as soon as it's ready." Fury snapped, and the grey haired captain shook his head.

"Not complaining about that, _Colonel_. I'm complaining about _them!_" He jerked his thumb at the other side of the table, where Charles, Scott and Logan were seated.

"Shut yer yap, Captain." Logan snapped, his eyes flashing angrily. "We didn't blow up yer precious ship so get over yourself. Fury, what's going on that you couldn't tell us over the phone?"

"I've been led to understand that there was another attack in your base of operations." Fury began formally, and Logan rolled his eyes, slouching back in his chair.

"Yes. There was. And we retrieved Puma and have worked out how Skin and Tigra returned. None of the Orbs were in danger." Charles murmured calmly, folding his hands on the tabletop.

"The Orbs need to be moved."

"Over my dead body." Scott informed him quietly, his voice deadly serious. "You decided you did not want the Orbs on the helicarrier, or the additional manpower needed to guard them; you asked us to take them off. The Taken probably still believe they are here, and not at the mansion. They are safer as they are right now, with no one knowing exactly where they are except for a handful of people. The more they are moved, then the more chance there is they will be found."

"You were attacked-"

"For a goddamned paperweight!" Logan snapped, fixing him with a steely glare. "The kid was holding a stone paperweight that Gambit thought might have been an Orb. Puma went fer her, she threw it at her and broke the woman's skull. We got Puma back, but the lady's gonna have problems for months to come. They weren't going for the _Orbs_. They were going for one thing that they thought was an Orb."

"And your operative _threw_ it at the Taken?" Mayhew pointed out darkly. "Well, that's just wonderful. Maybe she'll give them a map to their location too."

"She knew what she was carrying was only a paperweight, Captain. She threw the only weapon she had to hand. Colonel, I don't think that Jubilation's fighting capabilities are an issue here. The Orbs will stay where they are." Charles got to his feet, keeping his voice calm and authoritative.

"Which is?"

"Hidden. And well guarded. Your spies told you about the attack last night, Colonel, but they are unable to tell you where the Orbs are being held. When they can do so, then we can discuss moving them." A half smile crossed the Telepath's lips as he looked at the transparent wall between them and the main Bridge of the Helicarrier. Outside the room, Jubilee was staring moodily at the glass window that separated the group from the main bridge of the helicarrier. She was halfway across the room, leaning on a guardrail that wound around a pit holding computer equipment. She'd been in the middle of a training session with Logan when the program cut out and Charles ordered them both to come with them to the Helicarrier. She had an inkling that the only reason that she was there was because Charles had realised that Fury was sometimes calmer and less likely to get violent with Logan when Jubilee was around and vice versa.

Watching Logan's body language, she began to respond in kind, and her eyes narrowed, fixing a glare on the Colonel. "It's a good thing looks can't actually kill." Diablo murmured by her ear. It was only through sheer force of will that she didn't jump at the unexpected intrusion.

"Tell that to Scott. I've seen him shoot a couple of deadly stares." She smirked as the devil eyed Lieutenant frowned, and started to laugh, especially as Logan's attention drifted away from the conversation inside the room and directly onto them. She waved him away and turned her attention on the Lieutenant.

"What's going on?" He asked, leaning on the railing beside her.

Yawning, she shrugged. "I dunno; you tell me. I think I'm only here to make sure Logan doesn't go ape-shit on Fury's ass. I was in the middle of taking down a Hydra agent with Logan when the Danger Room cut out and we were ordered up here." She plucked at the top of her heavy-duty black leather training uniform and blew out a long breath. "So, what are you up to?"

"I think I'm only here to make sure you don't go wandering around the Helicarrier, kicking innocent soldiers in the face." He countered, and though her eyes narrowed dangerously, she laughed.

"Touché, Senor Red Eyes." She nodded, her fingers flexing on the railing. "Sorry; _Lieutenant_ Red Eyes. So, what are you really up to? I know I don't warrant an escort of your rank...besides, I already have one." She waved towards the wall where three soldiers were standing with their hands on their weapons, watching her closely.

Her head jerked back as a hand appeared at the corner of her eye, and she eyed him warily as he moved in again, gently moving aside a lock of hair to reveal the bruise on the side of her head from being hit by a rifle butt. "Ok, you got me. I was checking up on you. I got sidelined into a different mission after I brought the Orbs back here. I'm only here for a few hours and I heard my favourite X-Chica was on board."

"How'd you know about..." She'd kept the bruise on her temple hidden by a sweep of her newly shorn hair, and Diablo shrugged.

"Guess you really were out of it, hermanita. I stopped some soldiers spraying you with bullets after you started acting like you'd lost your mind. One of them hit you; I wasn't close enough to stop him. So, how's the head? Thanks for not blowing up the place, by the way."

She glared up at him and grumbled softly beneath her breath. She hadn't realised he'd been there during the attack and the aftermath of her being hit by lightning. "It's fine. Just a little headache that refuses to go away. It's all the rage when you get a slight concussion and a brand spanking new power triggered by the lightning and then get strangled by some dude at...sorry. What can I say; it's been fun fun fun all the way the past few days."

"New? Other than being able to blow up a mountain?" he asked with mild amusement, his smirk growing as she glared at him.

"Yeah."

"Triggered by the lightning?"

"More than likely mister nosey." She snapped, curling her fingers back around the railing. "It's really great. When I turn it on, I get a little headache…which you know already." She saw the knowledge in his expression and she began to growl. "Your little spies tell you that?"

Diablo suddenly looked unsure of himself and Jubilee allowed herself a smirk. "I may not be able to lip-read, but I know body language, and I can recognise certain words. When Chuck said 'spies', Logan and Scooter both looked pretty satisfied with themselves, and the bozos in khaki looked pretty uncomfortable in there. Remind me to play poker with them some time."

Silence was her answer, and she started to laugh. Inside the room, Logan's eyes narrowed again, but he allowed a fleeting smirk to cross his face when he saw how uncomfortable Fury's not so young protégé was looking. Fury followed his gaze as Scott and Mayhew began to argue again and sighed.

"Why'd you bring the brat?" He jerked his thumb in her direction and Logan shrugged.

"Dunno. Chuck wanted her along." He shrugged, hiding a wince as Scott's voice rose and Charles hurried to intervene.

"I guess you gotta keep her out of trouble some way."

Logan snorted as Jubilee's feathers began to unruffled, and the Lieutenant continued to backpedal, his mouth moving quickly. "Kid gets into action no matter where she is. If it's gonna find her, then it makes no difference where she is or who she's with. She can get out of it as easy as she gets in. Do I have to worry about him with her?"

Fury hid a laugh and shrugged. "Doubt it. He's nearly twice her age. Besides, she's already kicked him in the head; I doubt he'd be crazy enough to go after her."

"For some men that's a turn on." Logan muttered, and Fury couldn't help the grin. "You gonna stop that?" He jerked his thumb at the group arguing loudly behind them and Fury shook his head, looking unimpressed.

"Why bother? Mayhew needs to yell as somebody. So long as it's not me, what do I care?"

Logan nodded, knowing that Scott was probably getting more out of the shouting match than he had out of that morning's Danger Room session. "The Orbs are safe. I promise. We've got some of our best hitters workin' on keeping it that way. Any idea what they're for yet?"

"No idea. If we're really dealing with 'god like entities'," Fury raised his voice over the sound of a hand slamming against the table top, "then god only knows what they're really for. My guess is we'll find out when the time comes. Just have to make sure we can get them where they need to be to do their thing when it's time. Whenever that is with this crazy shit." His eyes narrowed as Diablo realised they were looking in their direction and held up his hand to get their attention. He pointed at Jubilee and them at himself and gestured to the door.

"You willing to let them off?"

"If he does anything with her, I'm holding you responsible." Logan growled warningly, a faint, predatory smile playing at the corner of his lips. He enjoyed the paternal thoughts that were running through his head even more than the thought of ripping the Latino apart if he even thought of having hanky-panky with the teen.

"Logan; if he touches her, I'll send him to Siberia myself." Fury grunted, giving Diablo a nod even as he drew his finger across his throat. The red on black eyes blinked, and he nodded, barely resisting putting his hand on Jubilee's shoulder to steer her away from the railing. Jubilee gave Logan a thumbs up and then waggled her hand to and fro in a question, and Logan nodded, the predatory expression slipping away to a more genial one.

XXXXX

"Your hermano knows that I won't hurt you, ya?" Diablo murmured carefully as they stepped into an elevator, and Jubilee shrugged, folding her arms and leaning against the wall as it began to move downwards.

"My 'hermano' knows that I'll kick the shit out of anybody that tries." She retorted, and immediately coloured. "What happened in Utah doesn't count. I was drugged."

"And you still kicked the shit out of the ones you could." Diablo reminded her, and she smirked.

"Darn tootin'." She nodded and sighed. "And he's not my hermano. He's my Papi."

"God help any boy that's interested in you." He muttered as the doors opened, and her eyes narrowed again.

"Not funny Devil Boy!" She protested as her escort filed out behind them, still watching her warily. "That's always been a serious problem. So, what is it you want me to look at?"

Diablo looked down at her and shrugged. "Thought that I'd give you a tour of the Heli, chica. It's got to be boring staring at a glass wall; especially when you aren't invited inside."

She nodded sagely and shrugged as he began to walk down a set of metal steps. "Thanks, Mitchell, that'd be great. Oh, and by the way, I may not be the sharpest tool in the box, but I'm not an idiot; I have no idea where the Orbs are being kept." She flashed him a bright, knowing smile and brushed past him, trotting quickly away from him down the steps. His smile faded slightly and he sighed. He should have known she'd be on to his game. "Nice try though."

The soldiers behind him hid their smirks as his shoulders slumped and he clunked down the steps behind them. They emerged out onto a large deck, and she glanced back at him, making sure he was following her. "What? I was right. Oh for crying out loud; do you honestly think they'd tell me where they are keeping the ultra super duper top secret end of the world hunks of rock? Jeeze, man, you need to cash a reality check."

He shrugged uncomfortably and gestured at the hallway in front of them. "According to our spies, you usually know most of what's going on with the X-Men. Right…well, let's continue on with the tour. You haven't been cleared for- not that door!" He lunched to stop her, but she breezed through regardless, finding herself staring face to face with the nose of a small missile. She blinked and turned on her heel, stalking out the door, grumbling about boys and their weapons. "How about we just go to the mess?"

That was where Logan and Fury found them a little while later. Jubilee was looking wide-eyed over a hand of cards at three soldiers, and Diablo was leaning against a table not too far away, watching closely. Logan sauntered up to him and sent him a look that had made many lesser men stain their trousers. "How long?"

"This is the third hand. They're playing for cash. The kid says she's good for the money, and I vouched for her. She's tanked badly on the last two hands..."

Fury's eyebrows crept up as Logan started to laugh softly. "They actually agreed…" He sighed and leant against the table, as a couple more dollars hit the growing pile. "Sometimes I wonder about new recruits."

"Think of it as a training exercise." Logan grunted, and the two men grinned as Diablo began to relax, realising he hadn't just lost a huge wad of cash.

"It's the expression on her face…"

"It's a gift." Fury confirmed and jammed a cigar into his mouth, lighting it. They laughed again as the innocent little smile began to turn at the edges. One by one they began to lay their cards on the table, but Jubilee was already scooping the cash towards her. She separated out a few bills and handed them around to those she owed.

"Now boys, I hope this is a lesson to you; never trust fish that's been out in the sun, men in vans handing out free candy, and little girls who say they've only learned just how to play poker." She winked at them and sauntered over with a beguiling twitch to her step.

"You ready to go, kid?" Logan asked as he snaked his arm around her shoulders and left the mess hall. She nodded, tucking the large roll of bills into her leather top and zipping it up. "Let's split this joint before they realise they've been duped."

"I think they already have." They grinned again, and Mitchell and Fury peeled away, taking the security detail with them.

"All ok now? Not gunna start World War III?"

"As much as it's gunna be. Kit-kat called a little while ago; she wants us back a-sap. You included; Chuck thinks that your new power might be a good help with this one. There's gunna be a good attendance for this 'meeting'. All hands on deck."

Jubilee nodded at the implications and sighed. "Logan…"

"If you're not up to it, kid, just say. Nobody'd think any better or any worse of you. You've been pretty much in the thick of it the past few weeks." He reminded her as they entered the main hanger, and she sighed.

"I know, Logan. I'll say it to the Professor after this mission…I just…need a couple of full night's sleep, with no one hammering at my door at 3 am."

"You ain't being weak, kid." He gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Even the best of us need a break every now and again. Yer only 17, kid. You don't have to be in the thick of things every time. No matter how nosey you are."

She smirked at that and leant into his grip, nodding at Scott as they approached the Jet. The trip was made in silence, and it was only when they were safely back at the base that Charles began to outline the plan.

XXXXXXX

Darkness fell on the London skyline, and a homeless man with red hair settled on top of an electricity box set into a garden wall, almost completely shrouded by an overgrown hedge. He hitched his blanket around him and looked down the street at the flat roof of an office building that was set against an old red-bricked Victorian five story house. The street was an odd mix of old and new, with some of the old houses converted into business, while others had unkempt gardens, sandwiched in between well kept residential homes.

Three people dressed in dark grey clothing were stealing across the roof and in the shadows and he settled back against the hedge behind him to watch the street carefully. A couple of meters away, a white unmarked van was sitting with the bonnet open and a young man in overalls hunkered over the engine, wrench in hand, looking flummoxed. Not too far ahead, a black Town Car with heavily tinted windows sat with its driver still at the wheel, dressed head to toe in black. The streetlight glinted on the rose-quartz sunglasses he wore, giving away his position as he dipped his head to glance anxiously at his watch every few minutes.

In the shadows flanking the residential street, almost hidden by an overgrown bush, a red-haired man sat with a blanket around his shoulders, a cap by his feet and a tin-whistle clutched in his hand. At his feet was a large wolf-like dog, tongue lolling out as she panted, keen eyes keeping track of everything that went on around them.

A few feet away, a black woman with her hair bound up in a head scarf was rooting through a bin, pausing from time to time to look around her and glance at the doorway across from her, where a man and woman in their early twenties were necking, the man practically pinning the woman to the door.

"Can you see them?" Everett whispered to Monet, and she looked up at the rooftop.

"No." She breathed into his ear, closing her eyes for a moment as if in ecstasy, but in reality, receiving a telepathic communication. "Jean says to stay put for the moment. They've only just got there."

Everett nodded, concentrating on not actually kissing Warren's girlfriend. He'd wanted to be the one rooting through the trash-can, but as Storm pointed out, a woman her age having an assignation with a girl Monet's age would have raised more eyebrows than the two youngsters having fun.

On the rooftop, Remy knelt in front of an alarmed door, a frown on his face.

"Well? Can you do it?" Jubilee whispered, her voice so low he barely heard her.

"Oui." He whispered back, reaching into a pouch on his belt to remove a few slim sticks. "Dis man be guarding against regular thieves after his fortune. Not against a man such as myself." He flashed her a sexy grin and she rolled her eyes, keeping her attention on their surroundings as he worked on unlocking the door. After a few seconds there was a quiet click and Remy turned Jubilee around, opening the pack on her back. Taking out a small device with wires protruding from it, he attached it to the door and connected each wire to it's proper place on the alarm system.

"Gambit; Prince of Thieves." She smirked, ducking away from a swipe to the back of her head.

"Now we go in petite. Stay quiet an' don' knock nuthin' over."

Jubilee resisted rolling her eyes, and crept inside behind Remy, letting Bobby close the door silently behind them. Keeping an ear out for trouble, he followed them down the small stairs to a wider stairwell and allowed Jubilee and Remy to lead the way. The next door wasn't alarmed, and Remy carefully oiled the hinges before opening it. Suddenly he held up a hand for them to stop, just as Jubilee froze, head lowered, sensing something Bobby could only guess at. Remy looked down at Jubilee as she held her hands up palm out, a soft red glow emanating from them. Silently, she held up three fingers and pointed the locations and routes of the infrared beams. He could see them himself, but he waited to make sure Bobby understood, before beginning to pick his way through the corridor, the other two bringing up the rear. After stepping over each beam, she would step to the side and hold her hand over each, showing Bobby exactly where they were. Once they reached the end, he gripped her shoulder in silent thanks, and got a 'happy happy' grin in return.

/Bobby, status report?/

Bobby almost flinched when he heard Jean's voice in his head. /Nearing the location now. And I'm not made for this cloak and dagger stuff./

In the back of the white van, Jean smiled and relayed the information to everyone else, turning to look at Hank who was sitting in the drivers seat, his image inducer projecting the illusion of a portly middle-aged man in tan overalls.

"There is a car approaching. And it appears Mr. Rogers has a prior engagement." He murmured, nodding his head silently towards the front door of the building. The wizened old man was slowly making his way down the steep steps with two bodyguards flanking him.

Jean concentrated for a moment and nodded. "He is on his way to the airport. The bodyguards will return once he is on the plane. I will let the others know."

Hank nodded and sank down as far as he could in the seat, but with the sheer size of his bulk, inducer or none, it was near impossible for him to be invisible. In front of the van, Jono rolled his eyes and knocked on the window. "It's no good, guv." He protested, loud enough to be heard across the street by the body guards who were eyeing him suspiciously. "The whole thing needs to be replaced. You'd better call the boss in about…" He looked down at his watch and shrugged, "five hours give or take. Doubt he'd be happy if we woke him up at this hour. We might as well catch a few hours kip until we can get towed back."

Hank grunted and Jono threw the wrench back into the tool box, opening up the back of the van and sliding it inside with a wink to Jean. He hopped in beside Hank and settled back, closing his eyes to slits. /What are they doing, Beast?/ he asked silently and Hank leant over the steering wheel, resting his arms on it and looking bored. /Assisting him into the car./ Hank replied and down the street, Scott ducked down to make sure no one saw him as the taxi passed. /It appears your little ruse has worked/.

/just wait until we get the goods, chief/ Jono smiled lazily and kept one eye on the rear view mirror.

XXXxxxXXX

"The house is empty now." Bobby whispered and Jubilee looked up at him in surprise.

"Did Jean say?"

Bobby nodded and Jubilee firmed her lips. "Ask her to check again."

A few seconds later, Bobby got a slightly snippy reply from Jean and nodded. "She's checked again. There's nobody. Why?"

"There's something about three meters ahead." She sighed regretfully. "I thought it was human…Maybe it's a feral like the one Emma missed?"" Her cheeks began to blush and Remy shook his head knowing that Jean had already learned from Emma's earlier mistake.

"We'll talk 'bout dis later, petite." He whispered, removing his collapsible bo-staff from his pocket and pressing the switch to make it extend. "But for now, we proceed as if it be a human. You doin' ok, petite. You two Ice-cube."

"Save your thanks for when we get back to the mansion. With the Orb." Bobby muttered as Jubilee slipped past them out into the carpeted hallway. This was the house proper, and in the back of her mind she admired the plush surroundings. This was definitely Old Money, like the Professor. Also like the Professor, the old man liked his expensive objects, and behind Jubilee, Remy ran a practiced eye over the vases and furniture that lined the sumptuous hallway, the dollars adding up automatically.

Behind Remy, Bobby didn't care what he was standing in, on or in front of. "Jubes?"

Both thief and 'apprentice' rounded on him and frantically shushed him. Bobby sighed softly. Jubilee glared at him and he made a 'well?' expression. Sighing, she shrugged and made the universal charades sign for 'man' and then waggled her hand back and forth.

They hung back as Remy made short work of the lock and eased the door open, glancing around. After a very short moment, he drew back, his face porcelain white. "Petite, 's not a man or a machine. It's a bloody Tiger!" he hissed angrily.

Down in the van, Jean choked on the coffee she was sipping at, earning a strange look from Jono.

"There's a tiger in the apartment." She spluttered, mopping at the spilt coffee on her lap.

Hank sighed and rested his head in his hand. "This is not turning out to be the greatest covert mission we have undertaken to date."

"Well, some of us aren't exactly the best people for covert." Jono pointed out. "In fact, some of us are probably the last people that should be doing covert."

"And yet we possibly cannot trust those who normally are 'covert'." Hank mused. "It is a quandary."

"Can't trust those we normally trust anyhow mate." Jono murmured just as quietly and behind them Jean felt a pang in her heart at the truth in what they were saying. "Although Jubes and Gambit are pretty good so far, right?"

XXXxxxXXX

"I am _not_ blowing up a tiger!" Remy glared at Bobby and he looked back pointedly.

"What should we do then? Wait for it to die of old age?"

"A tiger! A bloody tiger!" Bobby grumbled, opening the door slightly, only to jerk back when a whisker poked in through the gap. "And it knows we are here now."

"With all the yapping the two of you are doing, I'm shocked the neighbours don't know we're here too!" Jubilee hissed, rolling her eyes as they ignored her.

"What the hell is a tiger doing in an apartment anyhow!"

"Probably a pet…"

"What the hell is a 94 year old man doing with a tiger as a _pet_!"

As they debated what to do, Jubilee opened the door again and found herself staring into the eye of the tiger. "Hey there puss puss." She crooned softly, stripping off her glove and gently stroking it beneath the chin with a finger. She got a deep, rumbling purr in return and smiled. "Yer a good puss puss, ain't ya…you gonna let auntie Jubes inside? Good puss puss…" she opened the door a half inch wider and smiled as the tiger butted its head under the palm of her hand. She felt more than saw Remy reach out to drag her back, but she slipped out of his reach through the open door to rub the big cat underneath it's chin.

"Remy, he's got no teeth." She softly called over her shoulder, smiling as the tiger placed one de-clawed paw on her thigh and nuzzled at her cheek. "Whossagoodboy? Poor old fella. Here, Bobby, take over."

She stood up and Bobby nervously petted the big cat on the top of it's head as Remy began to prowl around the room.

"Got it Remy." She whispered and Remy looked up from checking behind a painting.

"What?" He looked surprised and she pointed to the desk in front of the closed curtains.

"Paperweight." She hurried over and shrugged off the backpack, unzipping it and reaching for the Orb.

"Petite-"

Jubilee froze and stepped back, sighing as Remy crouched down to check the azure blue stone. "Remy, it's sitting on a pile of bills. I can see one's an electric bill dated three days ago. C'mon already. Old dude's minders could be back a-sap and we'll be sitting ducks!"

Remy ignored her, continuing his observation of the desk until he was satisfied there were no motion sensors or pressure plates on it. "Ok, here." He snatched it and tossed it at her and she caught it in the backpack, quickly zipping it up. Ignoring Bobby who was now lying on the ground being mouthed to death by the elderly tiger, she took a final look around, trying to make sure that they had the actual Orb and not another stone paperweight.

"Guys…this is getting ridiculous." Bobby muttered and Remy gripped the tiger's collar, dragging it away to let Bobby get up.

Down in the street, Rahne began to growl and Sean followed her line of sight to where the cab was making its way back up the street. /Jean, we have a problem. They're coming back./

The alert startled the trio up in the apartment, and they hurried back towards the stairs. A furry head butting at Jubilee's hand made her curse and she realised that they'd left the door open and the tiger had followed them.

"Jubilee, give Remy the pack and bring the damned thing back to the room and shut it in. We'll wait for you on the roof." Bobby ordered, sprinting up the stairs.

"Leave it!" Remy hissed, and Jubilee shook her head and pressed the backpack into his hands.

"Can't – if they see he's out then they'll know we were here straight away"."

Remy began to shake his head, but she was already gone, and Bobby was beckoning for him to follow.

/Jubilee, hurry!/ Jean's voice was urgent as the old man walked quickly up the steps and opened the front door, and she felt Jubilee wince at the pain of the intrusion.

/It won't go back in. I'm trying!/ Jubilee insisted, trying to push the tiger inside. The elderly tiger was having none of it and refused to leave her side. Hearing footsteps on the stairs, Jubilee dashed inside, dragging him in behind her. She shut the door and ran for the curtains, diving behind them just as the door opened.

Down in the street, Jean froze, her heart in her mouth, waiting for some signal to show that something had gone horribly wrong.

XXXxxxXXX

Jubilee squeezed her eyes shut, trying to lie even flatter against the floor, well aware that she was now visible to anybody on the street looking up at the window. She was trying not to panic, but she could hear the man walking across the carpet and an odd rumble coming from the tiger's throat.

"Hush, Regis."

Jubilee froze. The man's voice was coming from right above her head and she tensed when she felt the curtain move. After a few seconds, the movement stopped and she risked moving her head to look above her. An orange striped tail was whipping above her head through the crack in the curtains, and she held her breath. There came the sound of something heavy opening with a clunk and a few seconds later, the curtains were twitched aside and she looked up to find Mr. Rogers standing above her with a gun in hand.

/Jean I'm busted. Tell everybody to bug out./ she sent quietly, trying to conceal a wince at the pain the telepathic contact caused and stood, holding her hands up. /I'll get out on my own./

"Why are you in my study?" The man gestured with the gun for her to move around to the other side of the table, and she sidled around the edge of the large desk, eyeing the gun nervously. It was a pistol, old but well kept and the sinewy, wrinkled hand was holding it with surprising ease and steadiness.

Jubilee kept her mouth shut, only breaking his stare when the tiger wound his way around her, rubbing his cheek against her in a decidedly cat-like way. "Traitor." She muttered and the old man smiled.

"I have had Regis for a very long time, young lady; since he was but a cub. Some hunters had already removed his teeth and claws when I found him in a marketplace. He likes you; though I must admit, I am surprised. He normally does not like thieves. So, what were you here for? The bracelet of Anuk-ka-na-maun? Or perhaps the Staff of Meht-keh? You won't find them here. I gave them to the British Museum two years ago. I really do wish that word would go out amongst you thieves that I have nothing of value in this house any longer. The pieces I have now are worthless reproductions, oddities and antiquities that have little monetary value."

"Everything has value, Mr. Rogers. To somebody. And I'm not here to steal. We only want to borrow it." Jubilee decided to risk it all, knowing that the others would get the Orb back to the safe house and _then_ come back to help. The Orb was the important thing. They'd lost too much already to be shirty about losing people.

"And what would you be borrowing?" Jubilee saw a hint of amusement in his eyes. He obviously didn't see her as a threat, and wasn't too upset to find a young woman standing in his study. Of course, he did have a gun...

"A paperweight." Jubilee looked down at the stack of bills and the man suddenly froze.

"The Orb of Kemet…" he whispered softly, eyes widening. "What for?"

She saw a sudden understanding in his eyes and began to relax, letting her hands drop down to her sides, one resting on the top of the tiger's head.

Kennedy Rogers froze as the girl suddenly became infused with a soft white light and when she blinked, the sapphire blue of her eyes had been replaced with a pearly sheen. **"What we spoke of almost 60 of your years ago, Kennedy, has come to pass. My Brother is making his way through the world and the time for action is now. The Orb which was placed in your care has been taken to further our cause. When you came to us, you were not a young human, though like the rest of your kind you were naive and unworldly. You and the rest of your expedition were used by us. I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to you for that. I have come to realise what 'free will' is, inhabiting this body. We took that from you. And I am truly sorry."**

Kennedy nodded slowly, setting the gun down with a shaking hand. Until that moment, he had only vaguely remembered what had happened; time had taken care of that point. But he remembered the voice, and it drove an icy shiver down his spine. Back then, that voice had clearly told him exactly what would happen to them if they destroyed or sold the Orbs they were allowed to 'find'. And what would happen to the world if they failed to protect them.

"And the girl? What will happen to her? Will you destroy her like you did Charlie Brooker?" His ire rose and the body of the girl in front of him shrugged.

"**I ask you to remember that it was not I that killed Charlie Brooker."** The ethereal voice turned harsh and the eyes seemed to burn into his soul. **"My Brother was never the brightest of entities, but that has not been a problem for him. He has other talents and has cunning and guile. He must be stopped. This one trespassed as you did long ago. I spared your life because we needed someone to carry the Orbs away from our lands and hold them safely; that was your punishment. Hers she undertook willingly and she gave me her life to save the lives of her friends that trespassed with her. Her life was forfeit, and her fate is now set in stone. She has this time with her people, and she is lucky to have it."**

It stepped closer to the desk, hand still scratching the head of the tiger. **"When I retreat back into the recesses of her mind, she will not know of this conversation. She will not know, and you will not tell her, especially of her fate. It is better for her this way, to not have the knowledge of her final moments hanging around her neck like a millstone, dragging her down. You will tell her only what you experienced and then you will allow her to leave unharmed and un-accosted."**

"And if I do not?"

"**Then the news headlines will read; "Retired Explorer found dead in his study"."**

The glow left her eyes and she shook slightly as she stared at a spot on the wall behind him, her face pale. After a long moment, she started as the tiger nuzzled at her fingers, whining. "Sorry, what did you say?" She cleared her throat awkwardly, blinking rapidly for a moment before seeming to gather herself. Regis rumbled a loud purr, butting his powerful head against her hip to make her continue scratching his head.

"I said the Orb of Kemet. Or at least, that is what I called it to save it from those with an unhealthy interest. It is one of the names for Ancient Egypt. But I think you are not interested in that. Take a seat, child. I believe you and I need to speak with one another. You could have made an appointment you know...it may have been easier for both of us."

Jubilee nodded and sat in the nearest chair, and as Kennedy slowly sat, his creaking joints practically audible, she briefly lowered her mental shields and let go of her newest power to stop the rescue attempt before it began. /Jean, it's cool. I'm safe, and I'm having a chat with Mr. Rogers…and his tiger./ She smiled as it made a whuffling noise and slumped against the chair, landing it's massive head onto her lap for further petting. /I think he's going to talk to me about what is happening/

In the van, Jean sighed and shook her head as Jono shrugged on the jacket of his uniform. /Jubilee, are you sure?/

/He's 94 years old, and he put the gun down. I think I'm ok./

Jean clenched her jaw at the mention of the gun and sighed through gritted teeth.

Kennedy smiled gently at her and folded his hands on the desk that sat between them. "Tell me what you know, and I will tell you what I know." He murmured, and Jubilee began to speak, digging her fingers through the fur on the top of Regis's head. It wasn't long before they both sat in silence again and Kennedy pursed his lips.

"I am surprised that Edwin did not tell you how many Orbs there were; though I suppose he thought he had more time. One of the problems with youth I suppose. There were seven of us that entered the temple of Chalchiuhtlicue that day. We were each given an Orb to keep. You now have four; you have two left to retrieve. I can tell you the names of those left; Julian and Nicholas Dunne. Cousins, not brothers. Julian died in 1964. His estate was given to his only living relative; Nicholas. I tried to keep track of those that were with me that day, but I lost him when he defected to Communist Russia in 1976."

Jubilee looked perturbed, but nodded. "Ok…hang on; four and two are six, not seven." Her eyes narrowed and he smiled faintly, reaching into the desk drawer that had held his gun. He removed a small cardboard box and set it on the desk between them.

"Lord Colin McDonaglle sent this to me several weeks ago. Before his house and family were destroyed in a gas explosion. Since you are here, however, and considering your quest, I now think that gas was not the reason for the explosion. Back at the Temple, Chalchiuhtlicue spoke with us, but I always believed we had different conversations. Especially from the vast array of reactions after we were 'released' from her hold. She told me her Brother would want what she was giving us to hold until those more suitable came to visit. Which I suppose is now you."

He pushed the box towards her and she took it with wide eyes. "Thank you, Professor Rogers. Is there anything else you can think of that could help us?"

"I am not part of this game, child, and I have no more answers for you. I truly wish for your sake I did, but I cannot help you any further. Come, I will walk you to the door and see you on your way. "

He put the pistol back into the drawer and locked it, rising to his feet. His hand reached for a passport and he pocketed it with a small smile. "My memory is not what it used to be. I was once able to tell the names of every Pharaoh dating back to the beginning. But now, now my mind is old and feeble, much like my body. I ask but one thing of you; when your adventure is over, would you come and visit once more? Taking care of that Orb has taken most of my life. I would like to hear how this ends."

Jubilee smiled and nodded, and he leant heavily on her arm as they walked to the door. Out in the hall, he turned to look at the tiger with a large smile. "Regis; _hemsi, saew_." The tiger lay down with a whine and he shut the door firmly behind him. "If I do not say that, he will leave the room and terrorise my cleaning lady. She does not believe that all he would be capable of doing is licking her to death. You have nothing to fear from me, young lady. I am much like my tiger. Old and useless."

Jubilee found herself offering him her arm again as he slowly made his way down the stairs, and when they got to the front door, he waited patiently for her to strip out of her grey over garments which folded up small enough to go into the pockets of her combats. Opening the front door, she hesitated, and he placed his hand on the top of her head. "I wish you the best in your venture. May god be between you and harm in all the empty places where you must walk. I wish you luck."

She felt a shiver run through her at his benediction, and she closed her eyes as he spoke, missing the sad look he gave her, and the quick shake of his head as his bodyguards moved to flank him, not knowing where she had come from.

"Go in peace, child."

"See you soon." She nodded cockily and swivelled on the ball of her foot, breaking into a trot as she moved down the road. He watched as a van pulled out of a parking spot and just stopped long enough for her to vanish inside before speeding off down the road.

"Sir?" One of his bodyguards asked worriedly, and Kennedy shook his head, beginning to shuffle towards their car.

"If you see her again; let her in to my home. She is a welcome guest." He stopped at the door, a lone tear gathering in the corner of his eye. "But something tells me she will not come back."

XXXXX

As Jono dragged her into the van, Hank was already accelerating. She landed on the floor with an oof and stared up at the roof as the doctor coaxed the van around a corner at 30 miles an hour. "You guys can slow down." She called out as Jean helped her to sit up. "Kennedy's a nice old guy who understands everything and filled in a few bits we didn't know."

Jean gripped her by the shoulder and carefully checked her up and down before giving her a little shake. "Don't ever do that again!"

"What, find out that there are only 7 Orbs, and that the last two are probably in the hands of some dude called Nicholas Dunne who defected to Russia in the 1970's? Or find out that one of Kennedy's buddies had sent the other Orb to him just before his house exploded and that Remy and me'd missed it? Ok, but it's a shame to give up on getting information like that again." She smiled and shrugged, and Jean slapped her arm lightly, not quite able to hide the pride in her eyes at the little cock-sure imp's abilities.

"Yeah. That. He didn't do anything?"

"He's 94, Jean. Aside from stuffing prunes down my throat, or sicking a tiger that needs its food chewed for it on me, there wasn't much he could do…after he put the gun away. Y'know, for an old dude, he's really quite perceptive."

Jono helped her sit up as the van took another turn sharply, and she dusted herself down, adjusting her top. "I know, Jean." She murmured quietly as the red-head opened her mouth to speak again. "It could have gone down badly. He could have shot me. But we have two more Orbs now, and we have the name of the guy who has the last two...and we know there are only two left to find. "Hank, unless you want the cops on us, you'd better slow down. It's all good, man."

Hank obediently eased off the gas and they continued through the sleeping London streets until they were out in the countryside, travelling through hedge-lined roads and laneways. In the woods of a small, out of the way valley, the Blackbird sat, and Jubilee was pleased to see everyone else sitting waiting for them. She clambered out and winked at Bobby who blew out a long breath of relief when he saw her.

"Thought you were toast, kiddo." He murmured as she slipped into the seat beside him, and she nodded.

"Nah; you know me, Ice-bucket. I'm untouchable." She flashed a cocky grin at Remy slid into the seat beside her, but the Cajun stared down at her, his eyes unreadable.

The journey home was uneventful, and after the debriefing, hand over of the additional Orb and a quick check-in with Logan to prove she was all in once piece, she retreated to her bedroom and locked both the door to her suite and her bedroom door. She methodically stripped and got into her pyjamas, stood at the window, staring out into the darkness for a long moment. Her mind was still and she drew in a quiet, deep breath, her hand resting on the largest of the stone balls still on the windowsill. Picking it up, she weighed it in her hand before carrying it over to her bed. Once seated in a cross legged position on the high mattress, she stared into the mirror on her nightstand and took a deep breath.

"Right; who are you and what the hell are you doing in my mind?"


	19. Revelations

"_Right; who are you and what are you doing in my mind…"_

She waited for an answer and got nothing, growling softly when she realised a few minutes had passed. "Listen, whatever you are, I know you are in there. I'm not an idiot and I know when I've lost time. Guns don't immediately go from being in an old dude's hand to lying on a table. I know what it feels like when somebody's taken me over…like when me and Angelo got into trouble with the bikers…" She trailed off, staring into her own eyes. "You…you tried to take me over. You used me. You are using me. Why? Answer me!"

There was still no answer, and Jubilee suspected that whatever was inside her was trying to lie low. "C'mon…I know you're in there." she cajoled quietly. "Now, either you and me have a discussion about why you're piggybacking in my head, or I go down the hall and I tell Scott and Jean that something's inside me and I don't really want to do that 'cos that starts a whole world of trouble. Of course, I'll probably do that anyhow-"

/_don't/_

Jubilee's eyes narrowed. It had been all she could do to keep her suspicions to herself on the journey home, masking her fears with the impression of tiredness and satisfaction at a mission completed successfully. Now, though, she had no one and nothing to hide from.

"Why." It was a demand more than a question and Jubilee pulled over a chair, finding it easier to talk to whatever was inside her while staring at her reflection in the mirror, than just talking to herself; it felt a little less insane that way. "And who are you?"

There was a small tickle at the back of her mind and she slammed her mental shields up, instinctively surrounding her memories with the most impenetrable barrier she could conjure. The tickle turned into a full-blown attack, and she gripped the edge of the dressing table tightly, squeezing her eyes shut until she forced the intruder into a metaphorical corner of her mind and fenced her in, effectively ending the attack. The effort had taken much out of her, but she straightened her back and opened her eyes again to glare at herself in the mirror. It had only taken a few minutes to force the Goddess back, but it felt like hours as dark circles began to appear underneath her eyes.

/_I am _She of the Jade Skirt_/ _Came the cryptic, and slightly snarky reply. Jubilee's eyes opened and she opened her mouth to retort but picked up her phone and started a search engine, quickly punching in the words.

"Chalchiuhtlicue." Her voice was dead flat, and she couldn't look herself in the eye for a moment. "The Goddess…the one…that…I…you…"

/_You were in my temple and you and your companions fell into my Domain. What have you done with your mind? I cannot do as I have done before…/_

"Not even the Professor can get into my head if I don't want him to. I got damn good shields and now I know you're in there proper like, I'm going to use 'em." Jubilee snapped angrily. "Now what the hell are you doing inside in my mind?"

/_You were a more suitable vessel than either of the others./_ Her passenger replied quietly. /_You were already on the cusp of death, as were the others. You fell a long distance, and landed hard. You offered your life in return for that of the others. I could not have brought them back from the brink without your powers/_ For once in her life, Chalchiuhtlicue was nervous. She had never taken over a body for this long, nor had she ever had a subject talk to her in like that; nor had anyone ever been able to force her to cow to their will. She had to remind herself that Jubilee was neither her subject, nor was she like anyone she had ever met in her vast lifetime. /_Find the memories I have hidden from you. It will be easier on both of us this way, rather than having to tell you, and dealing with your reaction/_

Jubilee frowned, but completed the mental equivalent of putting a leash on the goddess's actions and allowed her to show her to where she had hidden the memories. In a hidden recess of her mind, Jubilee passed what she realised were memories of her very early childhood, and she realised she could access them later, but for now…

Her eyes opened with a gasp as all the forgotten memories assaulted her. She remembered falling, and landing, and the pain that had lanced through her before she had passed out and woken in the darkness of the Goddesses realm. The memories seemed to sap the energy away from her sudden outrage and anger, and the fire that burned in her died down to an ember. "I trespassed? And you took my life for it?"

/_Not quite. You were in the part of my temple that my Priests would use to commune with me when I was not in your world. Think of it as my own personal home. You were dying. My brothers and I had been wondering how we would enter your world unseen to deal with Our brother. You were like a gift that fell into my lap, child. Your friends were badly injured, but they came through a different air shaft than you. They did not fall as far, though they too were close to death. As your body was almost completely destroyed, I thought I could use its power to restore the other two and use one of them as my vessel. However when I examined you more closely, I realised you were much more suitable. You were inching closer and closer to death, and in the end, the only way to restore you was to enter your body and mind. If I had not, you would not be alive now. I used your powers to restore the others as a sign of good faith, which you must admit you agreed to."_

Jubilee sat in silence, and finally nodded slowly, tears pricking at her eyes. "I think I remember; you tried to save my life, but something like one of my ribs had gone through my heart…you gave me a choice…you could save my body, or you could save Jono and the Professor…but not all three of us."

/_Yes, it happened as you remember. I am not evil, Jubilation. And I am not all-powerful either; no matter what my subjects once thought. None of us are; which is why your people are still here. Why my brother has not taken over your world as yet. He is stretched too far, and I believe his sights are on destroying the SHIELD soldiers. He views them as his true enemy as they are a military force in this world. I must admit, I am impressed at how just how suitable you are as a vessel; I thought he would have been able to sense me…Since then, I have from time to time given you access to abilities that you would not have been able to locate or master without me. You must survive/_

"Well I'm glad I'm good for something." Jubilee muttered, wiping at her eyes. She knew she should be mad; that she should be raging and weeping at the unfairness of it all, but the memories that had been released told her she'd already accepted her fate, many, many months before. "What happened before that you can't do now?"

_/Our last battle destroyed a civilisation. I-we do not wish this to happen again. The strongest of us are ready to fight, but still, we are not strong enough. The last battle was a nightmare robed in the red of fresh blood. This will have to be different. We do not have armies to fall back on; to pit against those of our enemy. We must tread softly, stay hidden until the moment is right, and then strike like a snake./_

"We're good at sneaky." Jubilee managed a half-smile, and rested her chin on the palm of her hand. "What about the Orbs? What do we do with them? Throw them at him or something?"

She felt the amusement roll from the Goddess and sighed.

/_Or something, yes. That will be revealed in time. I promise you; they are not a fool's errand, and are central to the strategy. We must not lose, little one. We must be a team/_

"Well, then there's going to be some ground rules in this team, O Mighty Goddess." She cracked her knuckles and scrubbed at her hair with frustration. "No more tiptoeing through my mind. It's my mind; not yours. No more trying to make me do things I don't want to do or shouldn't be doing. If I start acting out of character, people are going to notice and think I've suddenly turned to the dark-side or something. You don't distract me while I'm with people or doing something dangerous. And in return, I don't say that I've got a Goddess living in my head. 'K?"

/_I believe that to be a suitable arrangement. You can talk to me if you wish, if you do not think you are being watched, or will be identified as a lunatic. I will not speak / _

"Do you know what I'm thinking?" Jubilee asked suddenly as she drew back the covers to get into her bed. She felt the mental equivalent of a nod and her shoulders slumped. "Wonderful. Just wonderful. I'm a freaking walking sacrifice with a God lodged in my cranium..."

As she snuggled down into the pillows and closed her eyes, she heard a faint whisper in her mind. /_I am sorry, child. Your sacrifice will never be forgotten. Your memory will live on in those who love you, and you will be revered. I promise you that. For as long as I exist, you will live on in my memory/_

Angelo stood frozen with his hand poised to knock on the internal door of her suite. He couldn't say how long he'd stood in that position, listening to the one-sided conversation, but when everything went silent, he put his hand on the door knob and twisted, walking into her bedroom. She was snuggled up under the covers, but tears were pouring down her cheeks as she listened to the Goddess murmur soft platitudes.

Shucking off his shoes, Angelo climbed onto the bed and crawled up until he was lying face to face with her. "Jubicita…did I just hear what I think I just heard?" He whispered, and her eyes shot open as the Goddess cursed in her mind.

"Shut up." She directed at her passenger, and sniffed softly. "Angelo, how much did you hear?"

"I followed you upstairs, chica. I heard from 'who are you and what are you doing in my mind'. Sounds like you got something going on sweetheart." He reached out and moved a lock of hair out of her eyes before stroking the backs of his fingers down the side of her face. "Sounds like we got even more in common now."

Jubilee looked distracted for a minute and shook her head. "No. She says you were possessed. She's just hiding out. I won't let her take over."

Angelo blinked. "_Who_, chica?"

"The owner of the Temple where the Professor and Jono got healed. When we fell down those chutes…we landed; hard enough to kill us. She hid the memory from me, but I remember it now. We were near death when she came to us. She only had the ability to save me, or to save both of them using the last of my powers. She gave me a choice, and I chose to save them…"

"And you believe her?" Angelo seemed only half sceptical, and Jubilee took heart as she nodded.

"I can't read her like a telepath could, but I know when she tells the truth and if she's lying…I think. I remember what happened Angelo. She's manipulated my memories and I can easily tell the false ones from the ones she hid from me or my regular memories now I know what's going on. Angelo, I've got something in my brain…" She began to cry softly and he pulled her against him, nestling his chin against her hair.

"Chica-"

"And I can't tell anyone 'cos they'll fry me!" She sobbed and he tightened his grip.

"Jesus, Jubes, you can't do anything half-way, can you." He murmured as she continued to cry. He didn't get any more sense out of her and after what felt like an age, she relaxed in his grip, having cried herself to sleep.

Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to drift off, and woke up the next morning to find her bare inches from his face, intently scrutinising every line and pore. "I don't think my face is that interesting Jubilee." He murmured with a smile, and she reached up to trace the outline of his eyebrow.

"I really missed you, Angelo." She whispered as he bent his head towards her and rubbed his nose against hers in an Eskimo kiss.

"If I'd known what was going on, I would have missed you too, Jubicita."

"You gonna tell?"

"Did you hear me yelling for help last night?" He asked, his smile fading away. She shook her head and his smile returned. "Then there's your answer. I might not trust your friend in there, but I trust you enough to know that if you say black is white, then the laws of the universe have changed and it's now white. Is that good enough for you?"

She smiled hesitantly and nodded. "Thank you. I was freaking out last night…knowing what I know…and…Angelo, I'm not gonna survive this."

"You will, Jubilee." He said quickly, trying to reassure her, but she'd have none of it.

"I _won't _Angelo. It's…she took everything from me to bring Jono and Xavier back. There was nothing left to bring _me_ back. The only thing keeping me alive right now is the fact that she's inside me. I don't fully understand it, but when we confront this Shadow guy…I'm not gonna walk away."

Angelo frowned but shook his head. "We'll deal with that when it happens Chica."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Angelo was her shadow from the moment they left the room. She didn't con herself; she knew that he didn't fully trust her passenger. But he also didn't attract too much attention to her, and he didn't go running to Xavier or the others. She wasn't a hundred percent sure why he hadn't, but she appreciated that he valued their friendship over anything else that might be going on.

Three nights later, she found herself hustled onto a jet along with some others, on yet another mission that few knew about. Looking up at the hulking form of Colossus, she realised he hadn't a clue what he'd been picked for. Smirking, she shared a glance with Remy and patted the large Russian's arm comfortingly.

"Don't worry, Piotr, we're just going for a little breaking and entering in Russia. I'm guessing you are wanted for language and lifting." She grinned and he sighed, covering her hand with his for a moment.

"I think I am a little large for being a Cat Burglar." He advised her teasingly and she shrugged.

"Everybody's gotta start somehow."

When they reached Russian Air Space, Scott made sure the Jet's stealth mode was working, and carefully set the jet down behind a derelict barn not too far from the bright lights of a nearby village outside Moscow. Fury's Intelligence Agents had told them that Nicholas Dunne was now living there and had settled in the village when the KGB had finished with him.

Armed with the address, he sent Jubilee, Remy and Piotr out into the village to find the house and scout out the surrounding area. As they turned onto the sleepy, affluent street, the Russian sighed softly.

"All this money...in the old days, so much could have been done..." He shook his head and Jubilee nodded, tucking her arm into the crook of his elbow for a moment to give him a quick squeeze as they approached the address.

"I know...crap. Holy crap. Holy crap with jackboots on..." The gates swung in the gentle breeze, half on, half on their hinges. The mournful sound raised their hackles, but after sharing a look with Remy, she zipped up the top of her uniform and whispered into her wrist-mike 'the place looks like it's already been hit. We are going in the front door.'

Not waiting for a reply, she ghosted inside with Remy on her heels. Piotr hung back; his heavy bulk made stealth work a task he usually avoided. Trotting up the marble steps, she hesitated at the front door which was also hanging from its hinges. It was dark inside, and after a whispered order from Remy, she lifted her hand and sent a cluster of glowing plasma Orbs into the front hallway, shedding light on the carnage.

"This is so not good." She whispered, and he nodded, clearly preoccupied.

"Oui, Petite. Tink you can see if dere anybody left in here?"

She nodded and closed her eyes, opening herself to her new power. Now with the Goddess to guide her, she had better control, and was conscious of the Entity dampening the overwhelming signals she was receiving. Shutting out what was behind her, she began to seek out life signs. Remy watched her carefully until a small frown wrinkled her nose, and she shook her head.

"The electricity is still on in here. I can feel it running through the walls. I thought there was one directly to our left but it faded out. The last one is upstairs; it's faint and I don't really know what it is Remy."

Gambit nodded and moved to the room that she'd indicated. Holding a glowing card in one hand, he nudged the door open, poised to respond to an attack. Inside, he found a young man in a suit lying on a rich carpet and shook his head. The man would not be getting up again; Jubilee had felt him die.

"Upstairs, Petite. Piotr, take the rear."

The radio crackled and Scott told them they were on their way and to be careful, and Jubilee summoned more plasma, sending it up the grand staircase ahead of them, banishing the shadows. Remy hung back as she hesitated at the top of the stairs before heading to the right, her feet crushing shards of broken porcelain and picking their way over splintered furniture. When they got to yet another broken door, he took the lead and ghosted inside, his eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness.

"Petite; a bit of light s'il te plait." She nodded and followed him in, her jaw dropping.

"Oh my god…" She gulped as she stepped closer to the body of a white-haired man that had been pinned by his wrists to a panelled wall and reached up to touch his face. His eyes flickered open and she shot back, colliding with Piotr as he rushed forwards. Between them, they managed to get him down and laid him gently on the rug. "Hey, it's ok Nicholas. We've got you now…"

He shook his head and reached up to grab her wrist with a strength that belied his age. "I have…done…bad things…in my life…but I never…never betrayed…never betrayed Her…" Each few words was interspersed with a watery, death-rattle breath and she stared down into his brown eyes. "Tell Her…tell Her I never betrayed…Her…"

"Where are they? Where are the Orbs Nicholas?" She gripped his hand tightly before moving to grip his head firmly. "We need them."

He seemed to drift for a moment before shaking his head. "I will not tell. I will not betray Her. I swore on my cousin's soul…I swore I would not…."

"Damnit man!" Shocking Remy, she slammed her palm down on the wood beside his head, and then gripped his head tightly with both hands. "We're working for _Her_! We need to know where the Orbs are! The fate of this planet, all humans rests with the damned Orbs so you tell us where they are! Do you hear me? People have _died_ so that we can get the Orbs. People died to keep them safe! Edward DeNare, Edwin Fielding, and people you've never met but were damned decent people! And people will keep dying until you tell us where the damned Orbs are!"

"What…is Her name?" He whispered, and Jubilee closed her eyes, hoping against hope that neither man behind her could see her eyes. Lowering her face until she was practically nose to nose with him, she allowed Chalchiuhtlicue to take over, and her eyes shone with a pearly glow.

"**I am known as She of the Jade Skirt. You were the only one not to kneel in my Temple when I made myself known. Now where are my gifts to you?"**

An almost grateful smile graced his face when he heard the whisper, and he pointed towards the wall. His eyes lost their focus, and his head suddenly grew heavy in her hands as his hand fell to his side and Jubilee gently closed his eyes with her fingers, swallowing hard. "Rest in peace, Nicholas."

She stayed kneeling for a moment before wiping her eyes and getting to her feet, chewing at her lip. A hand on her shoulder made her shake her head and she cleared her throat. "I guess we check the wall."

Remy nodded, and they all froze as a noise outside drew their attention. He motioned for her to stay where she was, and he and Piotr walked to the door, the latter encased in his steely skin. Peering out, he saw Scott step onto the landing, Sean and Northstar at his back, all looking poised to attack.

"We foun' Dunne. He dead. We tink dey be in de wall." He murmured quietly, and Scott nodded, gesturing for the others to come up. As they began to pull away the expensive panelling, Jubilee and Remy moved next door to check the far side. Two steps into the room, Jubilee bit out a curse. The room had been completely gutted, and the remnants of a safe sat on top of a heavily scarred table. "Well merde." He bit out, and Jubilee found herself nodding.

"They already have them." She muttered, and kicked at an overturned bureau in frustration. As it moved, something rolled out from a hidden compartment and hit her foot. /_My creation/_ The voice inside her head murmured, and she nodded. "They have one of them, Remy. We have the other." She handed it over to him and he weighed it in his hand. "They mustn't have known he had his cousins' Orb too."

"You sure?"

"As I'll ever be." She replied, her eyes sweeping the room.

"De ting dat made your eyes glow back dere tell you dat?"

Her head snapped around to stare at him and she realised he was holding a glowing card in his hand, and from his stance she knew he was poised to cast it at her. Her blood froze in her veins and she heard the Goddess curse. Knowing she had no way to cover what he had seen, she nodded.

"Yes. She told me. She made them, and She can recognise them. She just can't sense them."

"Anybody else know you have this passenger?" He asked, his tone mild, but his body still tense.

"I didn't know myself until the other night when we were in London. She spoke to Rogers in his office. She's what stopped him from shooting me. She was going to go into Charles or Jono, but realised that I was more suitable. She saved their lives, Remy. She's not bad. She's just trying to stop her brother."

"Mon dieu, Petite…" He didn't discharge the energy in the card, but his stance relaxed a fraction.

"Remy, you can't tell anybody. I can't let you tell anybody. I have to carry Her; I have to be the one to carry Her. If Ehecatl senses Her, then He'll come for Her. He'll destroy Her. I don't know why, but those Orbs are important, and I think She's the only one that can do what needs to be done with them."

"Really?" He sounded sceptical, and she nodded.

"Really, Remy. I don't think She's a bad…entity-type-thing. She saved the Professor and Jono but didn't have the power to save me. But by going into me, She saved me. She's in me and I know She's there now. She can't hide from me. And I can feel Her emotions as well as She can feel mine. She was sad when Nicholas died. Very sad. She just wants to stop Him."

"Petite; I can't keep dis a secret. I have to tell someone; dey have to know." He almost flinched as her eyes blazed and a voice that was not quite Jubilee's barked **'No!'** and just as quickly, the sheen died and Jubilee stamped her foot.

"No my ass! Damnit Lady, I told you; you don't get to control my body!"

_/He must be stopped. We cannot be stopped!/_

"And I Said No!" Jubilee snapped, and they both turned as the door opened behind them.

"What's going on?" Scott asked with concern. Jubilee gritted her teeth as she warred with Chalchiuhtlicue for the use of her body.

"Petite's got a passenger in her head." Remy snapped, holding up a handful of glowing cards. He was torn between needing to stop Jubilee, and wanting to keep her safe; either from the Goddess, or from a possible attack from Scott. "She say it's Chalchiuhtlicue. Dat She in her mind since de Professor an' Chamber were put right. She say She hiding from her brother, Ehecatl; dat She here to stop him. Dat de Orbs be Her creation." He hefted the Orb that Jubilee had handed him and tossed it to Scott who in turn stared at him in disbelief before turning to look at Jubilee who was standing in the middle of the room with the heels of her hands pressed to the sides of her head, eyes screwed shut.

As Scott worked through what he'd just been told, they both stared at her as she carried on a silent, invisible war in her mind. Finally she pursed her lips together and opened her eyes, letting her hands fall to her side. "Damned Gods, thinking they can just walk into my head, take over my body and do whatever the hell they want." She snapped. "Well, she can just go to hell, 'cos she's dealing with the wrong goddamned Mutant!" Turning to stare at Scott, she crossed her arms over her chest with a mulish expression on her face. "Well? You gonna shoot me, kill me or blow me up?"

Scott quietly closed the door and approached her, noting that Remy was still poised to attack. "Jubilee…"

"Fine; just this once. And don't get used to it!" She snapped, confusing him for a moment before her eyes shone again signifying the Goddess had control.

"**It is imperative that we be allowed continue unhindered. You must not interfere. You must assist where needed. I will not harm the child, nor any of your people who is not Taken by my Brother during this time. I give you my word. I have not harmed her, and I have not harmed any of your people."**

"Why us? Why remain hidden?"

"**If one of you were to be Taken with knowledge of me being in your world, then all this would be for nothing. He would launch an assault and He would destroy me. He is stronger than I, and Our Brothers. Such is the only reason for this subterfuge. I promise."**

"She hasn't done anything, Scott. Ok, She activated some of my powers long before I should have been ready for them, but other than that…nothing. She stayed quiet and in the background; hell, when me and Angelo were back with the bikers, She tried to save me. I thought it was one of the bikers trying to control my body, but it was Her trying to use my powers to save me and Angelo. I promise." Jubilee took a step towards him and shrugged. "If you want us gone, we'll go. We'll find our own way to his lair and we'll try and stop Him. But I got a feeling that without the X-Men, we're toast."

"**We will need you, come the end. You and those like you to activate the Orbs."**

"So there is a plan?" Scott asked, and Jubilee's body nodded as the Goddess took control once more.

"**I have a plan. And I wish to keep it to myself. My Brother is treacherous. I do not know who among you I can completely trust. I just know that when the day comes that we confront him, I will need certain people with certain abilities to be in place, with the Orbs. I do not believe that you and this one will be Taken. Your hearts are pure, and you are sure of yourselves, and your places in this world. You are not ones that he would target. There is little duplicity in you. Trust in me; and trust in the one I inhabit. I…I beg you."**

The light left her eyes, and Jubilee blinked in shock. "Wow…she begged…she doesn't beg. She commands…"

"Jubilee!" Scott snapped, and she gave her head a little shake.

"Sorry, Scott. I would have told you, but…do you know how hard it is to deal with someone who is used to commanding an entire people? And have her in your head talking to you all the time. I'm just glad I didn't know she was there until the other night; I mean, imagine having her wittering onand on all the time-"

She broke off as he grabbed her by her biceps and gave her a little shake. "Jubilee! Focus!"

"I'm focused, Scott. I'm more focused than I've ever been in my life. And I'm more serious than I've ever been in my life too. You can't tell _anyone_! I'm only letting Remy tell you because…because _I_ trust you. And I; we need someone to know what we know. She wants nobody to know but I know that we need somebody to know…somebody near the top. Someone we trust, and someone that knows us…knows me. Sorry. Angelo knows too; he heard me confronting her after London. Scott…please?"

"You want me to lie to Charles?"

"Not lie. Just not tell. There's a difference; ask Magneto. Hell, you know yourself. And do the words 'By any means possible' remind you of anything? This is more important than your loyalty to Charles, Scott. If I thought he could handle it without running to Fury and SHIELD, then I'd tell him myself. But what he's concerned about right now is keeping them sweet so we can have back-up when we need it. Which is fine, because we will probably need it. But tell me; how many people think right now that we're on our way to Asia to help SHIELD evacuate their people? This mission was need to know. And so is what you've just heard. Now, either you trust me, or you don't."

She let the ultimatum hang in the air, and leant back against the table, nervously watching his face as he came to a decision. Finally, he motioned for Remy to stand down and cleared his throat.

"Jubilee; I've always trusted you. Never doubt that. I just have a hard time trusting something that would hide in the mind of a good friend. You have my word. I won't tell Charles."

"Or Logan, or Jean or anyone." She stipulated tersely. "Seriously, Scott; you tell Logan, and the world will end. And I love Jean to bits, but she's as much Charles's as you are. And I don't think her morals would let her lie by omission. I'm not saying you are morally corrupt, but you know when you need to keep your mouth shut. Remy, that goes for you too. Not a word to anyone."

Remy nodded sharply, clearly not happy with what had just happened. Handing the Orb to Scott, he stormed out the door, leaving them staring at each other. Scott weighed it in his hand, an unreadable expression on his face. "So this will save the world?" He asked carefully, and she shrugged.

"Probably. Possibly. Goddess only knows." She stepped closer and gently laid her hand on his arm, covering the Orb with her other hand. "Scott…I need one more promise from you. This one is as important as the last one to me. If…When the time comes…Don't let Logan do anything stupid. Keep him safe. Promise me."

The emotion in her voice made his blood run cold, and he stared down at her, the worry in his eyes hidden behind his visor. "Jubilee?"

"Promise me, Scott. What's happening now is dangerous. And if something happens to me…don't let him lose himself. Don't let him do something stupid, and keep him alive."

"I promise." She was suddenly in his arms and he hugged her with all his might, as if the strength of his hold could keep her safe. "I promise, Jubilee."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Far away, in an inky black cavern, a figure robed heavily in black sat on a throne made from obsidian which his Taken had brought from his Temple. Around him, Taken knelt, watching with awe has he examined the small blue Orb in his hand, turning it this way and that as he tried to probe its depths. To all intents and purposes it seemed to be just a rock, but he knew it was important. He just didn't know why. The man, DeNare, who had dared defile his temple with the others had been the first he had tracked down to destroy and before he had had him ripped apart had told him of the gift his Sister had given to him, and had declared that he would never find it. And now he had one, though he knew there were others.

Narrowing the eyes of his Host, he threw it with an inhuman force against the cavern wall, standing in anger as it bounced away unharmed. A woman with red hair and elastic limbs reached out and grabbed it, holding it up to him. He snatched it back and examined it again, seeing no change in its form. Tossing it to a nearby Taken, he turned his will on him and ordered him to break it by any means possible. Snarling, he stalked back to his throne and half-threw himself on it, staring at the man as Ben Grim began to pound it against the rock floor. He would find out what his Sister was up to even if it cost him half his army.


	20. Understanding

Fury was living up to his name as he paced up and down the deck of his office. Dum Dum watched him pace, and perched on the side of a small table in the corner, Diablo toyed with a small knife, his tail whipping back and forth, showing his annoyance.

"This was a complete clusterfuck from the start. The whole damned thing! From day one!" He finally snapped, and Diablo lifted his demonic eyes to stare at him. "I want to know who our leak is and I want to find out NOW!" He roared the last word and picked up a coffee mug from his desk, hurling it against a wall.

Neither man flinched, but Dum Dum rolled his eyes and shifted his bulk in his chair. "We did all the searches. Everybody in the chain has been checked and double checked."

Fury rounded on him but instead of going for his second in command, he clenched his fists and half-threw himself into his seat. "I want a list of all Technopaths. Cross-reference them against those we know were Taken…I want both lists and I want them yesterday!"

XXXXX

Scott closed the door to Charles's study, shutting the view of the older man resting his head in his hands, looking older and tireder than he'd ever appeared before in his life. Giving Jean a nod, he side-stepped her and carried on down the hallway, trying to keep his thoughts from her mind. It was hard with their link, and the past three days had been wearing as she knew there was something on his mind; and was bothered by the fact he wouldn't share it with her.

Glancing at the closed door, she changed her mind about talking to Charles, and instead took off in pursuit of her husband. She finally cornered him in Storm's arboretum and barred his attempt to side-step her.

"What is going on? You've closed yourself off from me, Scott…I'm worried."

Scott sighed softly and took her hand, shaking his head. "I can't Jean. It's not-"

"Tell her, Scott." Jubilee announced from behind her, and they both turned to look guiltily at her. "Actually, I'd better tell her. You see, Jean, about a year ago, I started writing something for Artie and Leech…just a small story, but it got away from me and it became a bigger story than I'd ever imagined. The boys loved it and said it would be great if it was a real book…so I finished it while we were moving back here from Salem and I sent it away a few days later. It's a secret, but Scott realised I was acting a little hinky, so I told him about it. I asked him not to say anything about it to anyone; I wanted it to be a surprise for all of you. Especially you, Jean, 'cos I…I hoped you'd be proud of me. It's being published. I got the email a few days ago just before we headed to Russia…that's why he's been so hoppy lately. But I don't want to tell anyone before I get the actual printed book to show people. Scott knows what it's about…and I hope you don't mind but I still don't want you to know what it's about. Until I get it and it's all signed, sealed and delivered. Can you forgive me for making him lie to you?"

Jean threw her husband an exasperated glare but nodded, a wide, beaming smile plastered across her face as she hurried to give Jubilee a hug. Over the red-head's shoulder, Jubilee sent him a sad smile and a wink, and as Jean drew back, she composed her face again and closed her eyes as Jean cupped her cheek in her hand. "Oh, Jubilee, I am proud of you. And I'm sorry for prying like that. I was just worried. Scott…" She cleared her throat nervously and sent him an apologetic wave of emotion through their link. "I'll talk to you later. I'm sorry for prying."

She left quickly, clearly embarrassed at working herself up into such a state over something that was easily explained and when they were alone, Jubilee blew out a long, pained breath.

"Nice lie." Scott murmured, his tone slightly disapproving. Jubilee folded her arms tightly and shook her head.

"No lie, Scott. Except maybe for the timing. I am getting published; it's an anthology of short stories I wrote for Artie and Leech. I found out a few weeks ago, but things have been so crazy…I never got the chance to tell anybody. So…now you both know."

Scott gave her a half-smile and tucked her under his arm as he walked them back out into the Mansion's halls. Jubilee had spotted Jean in hot pursuit and guessing the intent on her face, had hurried to intervene. She dreaded to think what would have happened if she hadn't. "I'm sorry you have to lie to her, Scott."

"It's not lying, per se. You did all the lying. I just stood there." He reminded her, and she grinned, giving a full-throated chuckle.

"If anyone knew just how much you have been corrupted in the last few days…" She felt him squeeze her shoulder and leaned her head against his chest.

"Well, some say I've got a stick up my butt, so I suppose it's a welcome change." He sighed, and they stopped in front of a large picture window. "I think we'd better stick to that story if anybody thinks we're acting strangely."

Jubilee nodded and after checking to make sure they were alone, she leant against the wall, folding her arms across her chest. "Are we any closer to finding out where he's hiding?" She asked, keeping her voice low. Scott shook his head, looking pensively out the window at the sunlight streaming onto the grass.

"Not at the moment, no. Fury's pulling out all the stops trying to find where their leak is. I'm worried at the fact that He has one of the Orbs. Does She know if we can pull it off without all of them?"

He watched Jubilee's eyes go distant for a moment before the young girl shrugged. "She hopes so. With or without it, we'll have to act. Do you think you can get them all when the time comes?"

Scott nodded, his eyes tracking a group of people running along the walking track that ringed the vast lawn to the side of the Mansion. "I know where they are, and I think I can get them…"

"As soon as we know where he is, we move." Jubilee announced into the silence that fell and he wasn't sure if it was her speaking, or if she was simply parroting what the Goddess told her to say. "We will need everyone on this; including Fury. I would like nothing more than to have the handful of us walk in there unannounced, but She thinks that he'll have all of his new minions with him; partly for protection, mostly for pride. Guys like him like to see those he has in his thrall. We wouldn't get two steps in without being noticed." He watched her face and realised that it was her words and no one else's. The expression in her eyes was not sadness or worry, but a look he recognised in his own eyes when he was deep in thought about a mission.

"How much help would SHIELD soldiers be?" He asked, and Jubilee's eyes shone as the Goddess took over.

"**None. I will not send defenceless Humans against Taken Mutants. However we will need the Colonel for arranging transport if nothing else. Unless you know of another way to move every willing and able fighter here to the battleground."**

Jubilee shivered as she took back control and sighed. "Think I'd be able to boost a large transport ship?" She asked conversationally and was rewarded by a startled gust of laughter from him.

"Right now, Jubilee, if someone asked me if you could steal the Statue of Liberty I'd probably say yes. Actually…that's a good thought." His eyes narrowed and she watched as he ran through a scenario in his mind.

"I know it's a good idea; it's mine. And listen, if Jean or Logan or anybody who can tell if you're lying get any more suspicious about why you're not sharing your mind here's another little tit bit of ultra top secret personal information for you; with his permission, I'm taking Logan's name in the next few weeks. The application's waiting in my room to be sent off when I turn 18. He'll be officially-unofficially my daddy. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm late for a Danger Room Session with Dad." Her smile turned into a full-blown grin and she turned on her heel and walked away leaving him staring at her, clearly stunned.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Danger Room cut out just as Bob lobbed Wolverine at the neck of a Sentinel. He dug his claws into the metal of the walls, while Jubilee and the others stared up at the control room with a 'what the hell' expression on their faces.

Charles activated the microphone and patiently informed them that all computer-based electronics connected to Cerebro were being shut down in case of infiltration. Jubilee, Logan and Bob shared a glance before heading for the door, where Scott was waiting with an Out of Order sign.

"They finally resorted to sending Glitch into the SHIELD systems. She's been chasing Network for the past few hours. Before they lost contact with her she said she thought she saw that she saw evidence she'd come into our systems." He looked annoyed and Bob quietly excused himself, conscious of the fact that sweat was rolling down his face, leaving them alone.

Jubilee became intensely aware of the fact that Scott was staring at Logan, and the Canadian was returning his stare. Screwing up her nose, she hit the manual release for the door and grabbed Logan by the wrist, dragging him back into the now dark room. "Shut the door when you get inside." She snapped at Scott, and stood staring at the two of them, hands on hips.

"Logan, I told Scott that I'm taking your name. Scott, no, you don't get a say in this. Logan, you don't get to punch him if he makes a snide remark. Scott, our relationship will not change in the slightest, except for the fact that we both may be slightly more sure of our positions in each other's lives. Yes, Logan, we are still going through with this, no matter what anybody says." She looked at them both expectantly, and then realised there was somebody still up in the observation booth. She felt Xavier make comforting telepathic touch to her mind before he left them to it.

Clearing her throat, she stepped back and made a gesture to let them know she was opening the floor to discussion. After a pained moment she nodded and headed for the door. "And if either of you turn up with a black eye, I'm opening a can of whoop-ass on both of you." She threw over her shoulder as she left their view.

Scott looked down at the floor and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh, I guess congratulations are in order…and if you hurt her-" Logan glared at him, rolled his eyes and breezed past him, following Jubilee out the door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sitting in a SUV outside a local coffee shop, Jubilee hacked into their wi-fi and looked around the parking lot. Taking a sip from her coffee cup she began to glide through the internet, seeking and finding the back door she was looking for to get into the FBI's files.

With Cerebro being hooked up to pretty much every single computer in the Mansion, she'd been forced to leave the grounds to begin her search for the Shadow Man's location. She knew the telepaths were looking, but couldn't quite imagine them ever finding anything to do with him. According to her passenger, there was nothing for them to find. He suppressed the minds of those ha had taken so thoroughly that even the smallest trace could not be located.

/_We will find him/_ Chalchiuhtlicue soothed her quietly, feeling the despair that threatened to well up. /_We will find him, and we will stop him/_

"And what then?" Jubilee muttered, beginning to search for information on new cults. "How is the stopping going to happen? I mean, is he going to be locked up again only to rise up in another couple of thousand years?"

The Goddess sighed and Jubilee got a sudden mental image of someone sorrowfully shaking their head. /_He will be stopped; permanently/_

Sighing, Jubilee shrugged and began to write down the locations of the newest cults to spring up around the USA. She didn't have any idea how to find out if he was anywhere else in the world, but thought that at least she could check their own little neck of the woods.

/_He will not be in Central America,/_ the Goddess intoned quietly /_there is not enough power for him there. The poor are too poor, and it is too over populated. Before, that would have suited him; more followers to worship him; but right now he is not looking for worshipers. It would take too long for him to turn them from their own Gods to follow him. He will try to take by fire and by force now, and have the citizens of your world bow before him. Then they will __**believe **__in him, even if they do not wish to worship. He will gain his power that way. If my goal was to do as he is doing, I would focus on this country first. Then South America, China and Asia, then Europe, then Africa. And the rest of the world would follow swiftly/_

"Our talks are always so comforting." Jubilee muttered, and Chalchiuhtlicue fell silent, keeping her attention on what the girl was reading, learning more and more about this new world she had woken up to. When the coffee shop shut for the evening, Jubilee closed up her laptop and yawned before making a full-body stretch, wincing as muscles popped from inactivity. A knuckle rapped on the window beside her face and she jumped a mile, letting out a yelp.

Outside, Bobby smirked and gestured for her to wind down her window. Beside him, Johnny Storm was looking at her expectantly and when she wound down the window, they both demanded to know where she'd been all day. Looking past them, she saw Remy leaning against the car beside them, arms folded loosely over his chest.

"A little Grey Hat Sneaking." She smirked when they looked confused and shrugged. "White Hats are hackers that hack to find out security problems in networks. Black Hats are the opposite of that; they hack for fun and damage. Me, I'm tippie toeing through the FBI and CIA's databases to see if I can find anything on new cults cropping up; who knows, one of the Feddie Agencies might have picked up on something that might just lead to the location of the current bad guys. Capiche?"

Bobby looked confused, but Johnny just shook his head. "Whatever. We're going for food; wanna come? And does Scott know you took the SUV?"

"I do have a drivers licence you know." She griped, only to have Bobby retort that her name wasn't Wei Lee _or_ Samantha White so technically she _didn't_. Her response was to stick her tongue out at him, and Johnny rolled his eyes as Remy moved around to the driver's side of her car and slipped behind the wheel.

"We meet you at de restaurant."

Bobby nodded and gave a cocky salute as he and Johnny clambered back into their car and sped away.

"Well?" Jubilee turned in her seat and regarded the Cajun thief seriously.

"You been avoiding me, Petite. You an' your 'friend'." Remy didn't sound too happy, and Jubilee snorted.

"Not so much avoiding as having other things to be doing, Remy." She sighed softly.

She stared at him, waiting for a reaction, but got none, save for his fingers curling around the steering wheel. "Petite...you know dat Remy's a LeBeau in name only. No LeBeau blood flows through his veins. An' you know Remy de black sheep in a family of black sheep. An' you know how much Remy now removed from de family. It took a long time after Belladonna fo' Remy to trust someone not in 'the Family'. It took Remy a long time to trust Ororo, enough to mebbie view her as a friend Remy can trust wit his life. An' fo' years, Remy trust no one but her."

He fell silent, his fingers curling and uncurling around the wheel. Taking a deep breath, he began to speak again. "An' den, Petite, one day you walk into de Mansion, an' my life, an' you remind me, blood don' make family. You turn' into dis little sister dat Remy care for. An den Remy gets dis big damn bombshell dropped on him; dat de Petite, she got somethin'; some parasite feedin' off her. Using her. An don' tell me differen', Jubilee. Dis Cha-cha-chue lady, she piggy-backin' in you like some tick. And Remy's question is; what happens when dis tick don' need her host no more? Is de Petite 'gon be able to jus' walk away? 'Cos Remy, he don' tink so. An' if Cha-cha-chue tinks dat Remy just gonna sit here an' let her destroy Remy's little sister, den Cha-cha-chue better run an' hide, 'cos when all is said an' done, dere gonna be hell to pay."

He finally turned his head and stared at her with his demonic red eyes, and for the first time in her life, Jubilee felt a shiver of fear run down her spine at the look on his face. It didn't help that it was directed at her passenger and not at her; it was a look that promised pain, followed by a death that would not be swift or easy. "She promised that I would be unharmed, Remy. I promise."

The red on black eyes narrowed and she felt the shiver once more. "Petite; you invisible to Telepaths. But Remy's no Telepath. Remy's an Empath. An' he know when you lyin' as much as Logan knows when you lyin'. Don' you ever forget dat, and don' you ever lie to me again. Now, Remy wants de truth dis time. No lies."

"No, no you don't, Remy." Jubilee sighed, curling her knees up to fit under her chin. "You think you do, but you don't. And there is nothing you can do about the outcome. You do need to know this; if I hadn't done what I did, and she wasn't my 'parasite', then I'd already be dead. I'd have been dead under that temple. Me, Jono and the Professor, we'd all be dead because we fell too far and we landed too hard. Do you understand? What is done is done, and what will be done _must_ be done. You know, and Scott knows. And that's it. No one else. Not Charles, not Logan...nobody. And they won't know; at least until the last moment. Scott agreed and the more people know about her, the more chance the Bad Dude has of finding her. And if he finds her, then Lorna's death, and everybody else's will have been for nothing. And I won't have that on my conscience."

Remy stared at her in silence, and after a minute of heavy thought, started the car and drove to the nearby restaurant where Bobby and Johnny were waiting. As she undid her seatbelt she drew in a deep breath. "I know it's because you care, Remy. Just don't make this any harder on me than it's going to be. And I want you to take care of Logan when I'm gone; I already said it to Scott, but somehow I think you'd probably be more capable of it. Logan trusts you...mostly." She leaned over and kissed him gently on the cheek before clambering out of the large car and practically skipping into the restaurant, plastering a smile on her face.

Remy followed her at a slower pace, slipping on his sunglasses to hide his eyes, and when he reached their table, he found her cosied up between the two men with a menu spread out between them. Their dinner was spent with him watching her interacting with Johnny and Bobby, the three of them sniggering and laughing as though everything was right with the world.

Long after the sun went down, he volunteered to drive her home again, and she sat into the car reluctantly, not wanting another confrontation. He stayed silent as they drove through Westchester until she called for him to stop the car and clambered out, a look of wonder on her face. He pulled into a space and retraced his path to join her in front of a shop window, where she was staring with wide-eyes.

"Jubilee?" He asked worriedly, and she lifted her hand to graze the glass of the window.

"That's me...I mean, that's mine, Remy."

He finally looked in the window and realised they were in front of a bookshop. There was a large display showing coming books, and his eyes narrowed when he realised one of them was written by J. Lee Logan. He looked back at her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder.

"This is my legacy, Remy. Something that's mine; that I did, with my own mind, and my own hands. That has nothing to do with the dream, and with the X-Men." She swallowed hard, and reached up to grip his hand tightly. "No matter what happens, I've left _something_ that other people will know about. Something that someone, somewhere will enjoy. And maybe talk about. What's to come...my sacrifice; no one will know about that. But they will know about this." She blinked away the tears and looked up at him, and he was suddenly hit by the strength behind her eyes.

"Then you will die." He asked, his voice filled with sudden emotion and dread.

"I will die. Bishop was wrong; I won't be the last X-Man. But I'm gonna make it count, Rem. I will _not_ go gently into the night. And I'll rage against the dying of the Light." She managed a watery smile and gripped his hand even tighter. "And I need you to make sure that they'll feel it. I need my friends to be beside me, Remy. I need my _family_, you included, to make sure that what I do isn't for nothing. "

"It won't be, Petite." He broke his gaze away from those piercing blue eyes and looked back at the cardboard cut-out of the book. "Remy LeBeau, promise you that. An', Petite, he also promise you dis; if dere any way to stop dis, Remy will find it. Remy not willin' to let you go down without a fight. Not if dere breath left in dis body. Unnerstan?"

She didn't trust herself to speak, but when his hand wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her close, she buried her face in his coat and began to weep bitter tears, finally letting out the fear and anguish she'd been forced to bury over the past few days. "Tonight, Petite, we weep for what might be lost," he whispered into her hair, tightening his embrace, "but tomorrow; tomorrow we fight. An' the next day an' the next day until that sonofabitch is lyin' dead at our feet, an' den you an' me, Petite, we gonna go on a trip down to N'Orleans, an we gonna see the Mardi Gras, an' you an' me, we gonna eat ice-cream, an' cotton candy, an' see the sights. An' a girl as pretty as you, you get thrown so many beads at Mardi Gras; all de colours of de rainbow." He continued to lay out their lives after the fight was over until she had cried herself out.


	21. Glitch

"Where's the kid?" Logan finally realised he hadn't seen Jubilee in nearly four days, and in the crowded mansion, nobody was quite sure where his pint-sized kid was. It took him nearly three hours to just find Scott, and the visored mutant cleared his throat awkwardly and shook his head. "You might try the laundry room."

Logan snorted but trudged down into the basement of the mansion; a floor directly below the main house, separating it from the base. Looking in the door to the large room lined with washers and dryers, he found people, but no Jubilee. Growling, he turned and nearly ran straight into Scott. Holding a finger to his lips, Scott gripped him by the elbow and steered him into a storage room, flicking on the switch before making sure the door was closed tightly.

"She's researching for me but nobody's to know. Got it?" The quiet whisper was strained, and Logan's head tilted slightly.

"What kind of research?"

"How to borrow a SHIELD Transport. One of the big ones." Scott cleared his throat again and had the decency to look embarrassed. "And she's under strict instructions this time, well thought out with no space for deviations or attempts to get it on her own. And she's being supervised."

"Why in the flaming hell is she –"

"We might need one. Without SHIELD's knowledge or assistance…Jesus, Jubilee was right; I've been corrupted." He didn't sound too happy, and Logan found himself staring at the normally straight-laced man, clearly bemused.

"You're telling me you've got the kid working out how to lift a SHIELD Transport? Does Chuck know about this?"

Scott shook his head quickly, and Logan folded his arms across his chest. "Jean doesn't either."

"How the hell'd you manage that!"

"Jean thinks I'm shielding myself from all telepaths in the mansion because I'm keeping Jubilee's secret about the book from Charles. It's worked so far. If you are looking for her, she and Remy are in a motel about three miles outside of Westchester. They have WiFi."

Logan didn't bother asking what WiFi was, but went upstairs and grabbed his jacket. Half an hour of searching revealed Remy's motorbike outside of a rather more upscale motel than he'd been expecting.

Neither of them looked up when he breezed into the room, both intently working on laptops. Jubilee pointed towards the bed, and he sat down without saying a word as they both went from one computer to the other. Finally, Jubilee groaned and stretched. "I miss Cerebro."

Remy smirked but kept working as she grabbed the coffee pot and poured a fresh cup for herself. "So, it took you four days to miss me?" She asked as she turned towards the bed.

Logan raised an eyebrow as she sat on the mattress, and shook his head. "Why didn't you tell me where you were going?"

"Orders. Scott said he'd field it when your interest got piqued. The less that know about this one the better." Behind her, Remy snorted but kept his thoughts to himself.

"What's the plan?"

"Well, at some point, Glitch is going to find Network, and when she does, she can hopefully tell us where the bad guys are at. We have as many Orbs as we are going to get, so we're going to have to get there somehow, aren't we? Hence the grand theft auto…or grand theft Transport."

"Shouldn't we ask SHIELD?"

Jubilee drew in a long breath. "Logan, you been taking the same drugs Xavier's been taking? 'Cos that don't sound like the Logan I know and love. Think carefully about the man we know as Nick Fury; do you honestly think he'll go 'yeah, sure, here's the keys'? Or would he insist on sending a full company or eight of SHEILD troops? Or just try to nuke them out of it?"

"Nuke 'em." Logan grunted, and Jubilee smirked.

"Egg-sactly. He's a God, Logan. A nuke ain't gonna cut it. He'd probably survive whatever kind of arsenal we'd throw at him. We have what Chalchiuhtlicue gave us. We go in and do whatever the heck it is we're supposed to do."

"The Orbs…?"

"No instructions as yet, but we can't keep sitting around waiting for stuff to fall into our laps, Logan. Now, be a dear and go get some take-out. Money's in my purse; we've got some more hacking to do."

"Glitch is bouncing around in the SHIELD systems, kid. What'll you do if she finds you in there?"

"We not in SHEILD databases mon amie. We in de computers of de people who make de Transports." Remy turned and looked over his shoulder at them, a sly grin on his face. "We be tiefs; not stupid."

XXXX

When Scott arrived a few days later to see their progress, he found a room covered in paper; the walls were lined with hand-drawn plans and every other available surface except for one of the twin beds had reams of print-outs. The free bed showed a spike of black hair peeking out from beneath the covers, and Scott was glad to see that at least one of them was getting some sleep.

Logan and Remy were staring at the plans that covered the curtains, a serious look on both their faces. "Well?"

Remy held a finger to his lips Scott rolled his eyes until Logan pointed at Jubilee. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a cigar and gestured to the door. Outside, he lit up with a satisfied sigh and Scott leant against the railing. "Well?"

"Think we got a way. Need one helluva distraction though."

"Like?"

"We ain't got that far yet." Logan griped. "Don't wanna completely piss Fury off. Might need him to pull our asses out of the fire."

"They'll come after us, Logan. The way I figure, we probably have about six hours before they figure out what's going on and catch up. Especially if they know where Ehecatl is."

"So…probably need a little less of a distraction then, if we know they're gonna come after us anyways."

"Possibly. I'll talk it over with…" Scott sighed and shook his head. "I was going to say Charles. I don't think I'm cut out for this, Logan."

Logan snorted and pulled on his cigar. "That's why you got us misfits. We do the creepin' about an' you look like the golden haired kid. Just so long as you hold to your end of the bargain."

"Bargain?"

"We do this; you back us up every damned step of the way. You don't drop the kid in it."

Scott nodded, suddenly understanding Logan's fears. "I promise, I have her back. And Remy's and yours and whoever else gets roped into this."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Glitch blasted through the internet, bouncing from server to server as she followed Network's trail. It wasn't easy, but she was damned good at what she did. She rocketed around China before stagnating in a global network belonging to an online publishing company. She skipped through SHIELD so many times she thought she was getting dizzy.

Network was good. But Glitch was older, wiser and when it came down to it, just about better. In a server room in Arkansas, the red-head shot into the room in a blast of blue electrical light and fell against a server tower, knocking it over. She struggled to her feet and pushed up her sleeves before ducking into a wrestling stance as Networked detached herself from the internet and glared at her with inky black eyes.

Before she could move, the dark haired Taken was on her, reminding her that the kid had learned her fighting abilities from Alpha Flight. It ginslly descended into a cat-fight, with hair pulling and nails raking against flesh until Glitch got a good grasp on Network's hair and began to slam her face into the floor. With her fingers entwined in the dark hair, she used her powers against the other Technopath and accessed her mind as she would a computer. Binary data began to flow in her eyes, threatening to overwhelm her as she assimilated the data Sarah Vale had accrued in her time serving Ehecatl. Finally, she dropped Sarah's head and lurched for the nearest trash can as her stomach heaved.

"How…"

A voice behind her made her turn as she wiped her mouth, and found clear brown eyes looking at her.

"It's a gift…" She hazarded as Sarah turned over onto her side and lifted her hand to her face, wincing as she touched against a gouge down her cheek. "You with me?"

"What's going on?"

"I think I beat the devil out of you." Orla cleared her throat awkwardly. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Going to sleep. Where is this? What have I been doing?" Sarah pushed herself up into a sitting position and looked at the scrapes on her arms before realising that the girl facing her didn't look much better. "Were we fighting?"

"In a way. But it wasn't really you." The Irish woman sat down with her back against a server and tried to look unthreatening, though she was keeping a firm hand on her powers, ready to skip into the internet if the other woman showed any sign of attacking her again. "You were taken over by a God called Ehecatl. He was using you to get information and damage systems in SHIELD. I had to see what you knew, you know? Had to stop you."

The words delivered in a soft brogue sounded like the truth, and Sarah shrugged. "The name is Sarah Vale; what's yours?"

"Orla Ryan; Glitch. Sarah, take my advice and go to ground. Hide out for a while. I'll leave a message in your email when its safe to come out again. SHEILD are pretty pissed off at you right now, and I don't think they're fully ready to believe that those who are Taken by Ehecatl and returned aren't going to turn again. I have to go and tell them what I learned. Just go, ok?"

"I…I don't have any money; I don't know where to go!" Sarah protested, showing her youth. Glitch thought for a moment before becoming enveloped in the blue glow of static electricity. After a minute or so, she smiled.

"According to Bank of America, you now have close on 50,000 dollars in your account. Find someplace quiet and go dark, ok? I really have to go." With that, she glowed blue and seemed to be sucked into the server.

As she rode the technological highway, she sought out familiar paths until she was circling the Mansion. She was surprised when there was no way to get in, and zipped away to find another entrance. Seeking the familiar technology, she zoned in on a piece of hardware that held the telltale trace of Cerebro.

This time her exit was much slower and more controlled and she stepped out into a darkened room, startling it's occupants. Scott was the first one to stand down and behind him on the bed, Jubilee turned over with a wide yawn and let her eyelids flutter open. "Whut-"

"Orla; what's going on?" Scott snapped, and behind him, Logan and Remy shared a quick look before downing cards and sheathing claws. "I thought you were-"

"I found her. Arkansas. We fought-"

"I can see that." Scott pointed out. "Did you stop her?"

"She's back; unzoinked. Eyes went back to normal after I slammed her face against the floor a few times. Then I accessed her data."

"And?" Logan pressed darkly.

"They are in New Mexico. In the desert, but underground."

"And Vale?"

"Gone to ground. I'll keep an eye out for her signature but I think she'll stay dark."

"Why in the name of god didn't you call SHIELD?" Scott asked sharply, and Glitch put her hands on her hips, clearly looking unimpressed.

"Because they have a Shoot To Kill order on her. Taken or not Taken. I saw it with my own eyes. I guess they really don't like somebody turning on the Self-Destruct on one of their Heli's. I made an executive decision. The kid's what, 16, 17? She deserves to have a future. And if you don't like it then you can go póg mo thóin."

"That's Kiss My Ass in Gaelic." Jubilee told Logan in a stage whisper. "Sean told me."

"What's going on in here?" Orla looked around with interest, realising they were in a motel room. "These look like plans."

"Battle plans." Jubilee confirmed, crawling along the mattress until she reached the end and was facing the short Irishwoman. "Orla…you can't tell Charles about this. Seriously…"

Orla didn't say anything but her eyebrows crept upwards as she drifted towards the nearest wall and began to trace out the blue lines of the diagram of the cargo hold in the Transport. "Why?" She asked quietly, detaching one of the sheets from the wall and turning towards them with it held between her hands.

"Because he'd never go for it. He's concerned with keeping SHEILD happy right now. We're concerned with not killing anybody else." Jubilee replied frankly, and to Logan's surprise, both Scott and Remy stayed silent, letting her take control of the conversation. There was something else going on; something beneath the surface that the three of them knew about and weren't sharing. He wasn't too happy about that, but he trusted Jubilee, and hoped she understood enough about what she was getting them into.

"Who is in charge?" Orla asked quietly, and Jubilee pointed at Scott.

"Boss man over here. Listen Glitch, we don't exactly like what we are doing, but if SHIELD go haring in then hundreds of soldiers are going to kick the bucket, let alone the Taken that could be got back."

The Technopath's mind worked like a computer and Jubilee and the others watched her run through the data at lightning speed. Getting to her feet, she picked up one of the laptops and offered it to her, shooting Scott a look as he moved to stop her. Her eyes told him to give the red-head a chance and he stepped back as Orla reached out to take it in her hands. After a minute she handed it back and sat down, eyes downcast.

"Small force. You'll have to get the Orbs though. Diversion…." She trailed off as her mind worked overtime. "Easy." She looked up with wide eyes. "Easy. Easy diversion." To demonstrate what she was thinking, she reached out and touched the lamp. Throughout the room the TV turned on, the lights turned off and the laptops saved their data and shut down before restarting. "Transports have autopilots. I know their systems like the back of my hand now. Count me in."

"Glitch?" Scott asked carefully, and she turned to stare at him seriously.

"Lorna was a friend. And I don't want to see any more friends dying. If we can save them; even if it ends up being just one of them, then that's enough for me. I think you'll find that that's true about most of us. And if Fury has his way he'll take out everybody that's Taken. Trust me; I've seen his orders."


	22. Rage Against the Dying of the Light

A quiet revolution happened when Charles went for a meeting with SHIELD to discuss their progress, and about how they'd lost track of Glitch. Once he, Jean and Magneto had left, Jubilee sauntered down to Scott's office and poked her head inside. He was seated at his desk with his fingers threaded through his hair; elbows resting on the desk.

"Fearless; it's time?" She enquired cautiously. His head swivelled up and she knew that if she could see his eyes, they would have been filled with despair. "It's going to be ok, Scott." She whispered, closing the door behind her. "I promise."

"Jubilee, if we lose you, then it's not going to be ok. If we lose any one of us, it's not going to be ok." He stressed, letting go of his hair and sitting as dejectedly as he looked.

"Which is why there's a change of plan." She announced, and if things hadn't been so serious, she would have laughed at how suddenly and straight he sat up.

"What!" He barked, and she resisted rolling her eyes.

"Nothing big. Just a change in the Transport we're lifting. Or Glitch is lifting. I had another look through the manifests to make sure we're getting the right one, and I noticed one of them is has a couple of barrels of a certain compound…remember me and Angelo's road trip and they got us with that Annul stuff? That knocks out powers? Well, they got it, and I was thinking that maybe, just maybe we could use it? To knock out their powers?"

Scott realised that this idea was coming from Jubilee, and not her passenger and for some reason, he felt heartened by it. "How do we get it to them though?" He asked, picking up a pen.

"Had a chat with Wolvie about this. Y'know he's not a bad tactician sometimes? Anyhow, he said that Sheldon Hofstadter can, like, atomise liquid."

Scott frowned and picked up a sheaf of paper, leafing through it. "Shelly? Meta Man? He's here? When did he get here?"

"About three days ago, give or take. He's holed up with the rest of the Supers, but Wolvie's having a quick chat with him right now. He wasn't in great shape when he got here. I think Ben Grim worked him over a while back. He's got a few broken ribs an' stuff. But if he can atomise it and Storm can send it into whatever hole they're in…."

"Then it will stop some of their powers if not all. Good thinking, Jubilee." He cleared his throat gruffly and gripped the papers tightly between his hands. "Are you ready?"

All sense of levity dropped away, and she nodded, squaring her shoulders as the colour drained from her face. "As I'll ever be. Scott…I just wanna say thanks. You-"

He held up his hand and shook his head, coming around the desk to face her. "You don't need to say anything. Now go on up and get Emma. Hurry; I'll get Logan and Gambit."

She suddenly stood straight and snapped off a sharp salute before turning on her heel and trotting away. She made her way through the heaving mansion and finally mounted the stairs to the attic over the front of the house. Standing amid the old dusty boxes, she faced one of the walls and cleared her throat loudly. "I need to talk to Emma please. I'll be in my room, which can be accessed pretty easily by the ivy and through the window. And yes, it needs to be face to face." She turned on her heel and walked to her room, locking the door behind her.

In her little sitting room, Scott, Logan and Remy were waiting, and Jubilee flashed them a tight smile before opening the window. Less than a minute later, a pair of white boots dangled in view before Emma swung in, looking very put out. "Jubilee, no one is supposed to know where-!"

"Emma, I asked her to get you." Scott murmured quietly. "We need to talk."

When he was finished, Emma looked around the room, finding serious faces staring back at her. After a long moment, the White Queen nodded slowly. "Alright, it does sound like a good plan. When is it to start?"

"Glitch is 'liberating' the Transport the second that Security logs that Charles and the others are on the main Heli. SHIELD won't be able to react or respond until she stops playing with the systems. She can keep them occupied for as long as we need. As soon as we are well on our way to New Mexico, she'll give them back their access and tell them where we're headed, just in case we need backup. And she will keep an eye on things to make sure they don't start a nuclear assault on Ehecatl. We figure they'll probably come after us anyways but it'll be too late."

Emma nodded again, and Jubilee was quietly amazed at how well she and Glitch had taken their plans. "No protests?"

"None at the moment. It is obvious you have all been working on this for some time." She sounded disapproving, and Jubilee shrugged.

"About two weeks, Emma. It's the best way to make sure that not too many of us die. You'll get the Orbs?"

Emma nodded seriously and sat on the edge of Jubilee's bed. "Tell me who you need, and I will summon them to the lawn when the time comes. I suggest you also bring most of the original X-Men. We know we can trust them."

"Everyone that can fight. We don't know how many will be waiting for us when we get there. I'd rather be over-gunned than overwhelmed."

"You don't make things easy, do you?" Emma muttered but got to her feet. "I'll alert the others to begin to prepare for battle and tell the others upstairs. I think they will be more than happy to get out of the attic. As will I."

She stepped up onto the windowsill and swung easily back up onto the ivy that lined the building, disappearing in seconds. Remy closed the window and turned back to the room. "Is it Remy or is dis going very smooth?"

"Too smooth?" Jubilee offered quietly, and the Cajun nodded. "Well, it's about time it did. The ball is in our court now."

XXXXX

An hour later, Jubilee got a text message from Glitch who was still holed up in the motel room, her hands firmly placed on one of the laptops as she used the circuitry to give her an entryway to SHIELD. Nodding at Scott as he left the room, she checked the fit of her boots one last time and flinched when she felt a hand touch her cheek.

Logan stepped into her line of view and lifted his other hand so that he was cupping her cheeks. "Kid, you don't look so hot right now. You sure you ok to do this?" He asked gruffly, and she nodded, swallowing hard. She knew that if she looked as sick as she felt, he was probably worried about her, but she straightened her shoulders and nodded.

"I'm fine, Logan. I'll be fine. Just a bit worried is all. This…this is big." Her voice cracked and she resisted the temptation to bury her head against his uniform, instead staring resolutely into his eyes. "But I'll be ok. Will you be ok?" The double edge to the question escaped him and he smiled grimly at her before ducking his head down to kiss her lightly on the cheek. He crushed her against him in a firm hug before letting go to pull up his hood. As Logan became Wolverine, she stepped away and drew in a deep, shuddering breath. "Logan, will you be ok?"

The grim smile returned, more sinister now he was in full uniform. "You know me, kid." He winked and disappeared out the door.

"That's the problem, Wolvie. I know you too well." She whispered once he was gone. Reaching underneath her mattress, she retrieved a handful of letters and put them on her dresser, propping them up against the mirror. Taking another deep breath she found herself gripping the edge of it hard as tears sprang into her eyes. "I don't want to die…." She whispered brokenly and as suddenly as despair threatened to overwhelm her, anger replaced it and a split second later, the mirror broke into shards.

"Petite, I wouldn't suggest you do dat again." Remy murmured, and she sighed heavily, cupping her knuckles protectively.

"I didn't like the look it was giving me." She muttered, straightening to turn and look at him.

"Tought it might be like dat. We already said our words, Petite, so I'm not gonna go over tings again. But…here. Remy tought you might need dis." He moved into the bedroom and handed her a slim knife. "Put it into your boot. No one know about it. Everybody need an edge nobody knows about."

She smiled a quick thanks and slipped it down into her boot. Nodding sharply to him, she felt Emma's telepathic call and took one last look around her room before jogging out the door leaving Remy behind. He glanced at the broken mirror and spotted the letters. After a moment's hesitation, he took the one with his name on it, and Logan's and tucked them into the inside pocket of his duster coat. A quick pat down of his pockets told him he had everything he could comfortably carry, and he followed Jubilee's path down through the mansion.

Stepping out onto the terrace, he realised that Emma had done her part well. All around him were the young, the unexperienced and the injured. They weren't gathering on the lawn to enter the Transport that was on it's way. They were watching the older, more experienced, battle hardened mutants gather on the lawn, and he smirked when he realised they some were organising into old battle groups; even the X-Men were together at the edge, with the former members of Gen-X bridging the gap between them and the remnants of the Fantastic Four. Lone Supers were dotted here and there as well as gathering into their own teams, and he was pleased to see that Tradewind had donned his old suit, obviously having made peace with himself at having to fight again.

"Gambit-" Angelo moved to stand in front of him, and stared earnestly up at the Cajun. Remy was surprised to see he was still dressed in his street clothes. "Emma thinks it might not be such a good idea for me to go. She thinks I might be a liability." He shrugged, clearly unhappy, but it was clear that he realised that it was probably for the best.

"Sorry to hear that, mon ami." Remy muttered, but returned to staring at the crowd below them.

"You'll take care of her?" Angelo didn't need to say any more as Remy turned his attention back to him. He nodded once, briefly, and clapped the young Latino on the shoulder before going to meet with his team.

The X-Men were talking quietly among themselves, and as Jubilee arrived, he watched her go straight to Scott and not Logan. He and Storm shared a long look, and they turned to him. "Scott, what's going on? Is it what they are saying it is?" He asked, almost accusingly, and Scott cleared his throat softly.

"It's time, Bobby." Scott looked over at Emma who nodded and began telling her former charges what was going on. "We're headed to New Mexico where Glitch located Ehecatl's lair. There's a SHIELD Transport coming to bring us there. We have an inside edge I'm not able to talk about right now, but we have to get in place and be ready for when it happens. Emma will send a vaguer message to the others who we don't know as well; the location will be withheld as well as the location of the Orbs. Any questions?"

Storm nodded. "Cyclops, where are Professor Xavier and Jean?"

This one Scott was easily able to field and only felt vaguely guilty as he volunteered; "They are on the main Helicarrier with Fury."

"Scott-" Jubilee pointed to the night sky where the large Transport was lumbering towards them. "Well, they're not going to miss us coming, are they?"

Scott shrugged; he had a feeling that even if they'd been in stealth jets Ehecatl would have sensed them coming. "It will have to do. Everyone, get ready to board." His voice carried over the lawn to the waiting mutants, and as the Transport slammed down onto the lawn, Beast winced.

"I do not envy the landscapers when they have to repair that damage." He mused quietly to Jubilee as she watched people begin to trudge up the ramp into the hold. "Have you-?"

"I'm so high on sugar right now Hank that I'm surprised I'm not vibrating." She held up a bag for him to look into and he smiled knowingly, spotting the energy drinks and glucose sweets.

"That's my girl." He rubbed his paw over her hair, ruffling it up and laughing softly as she glared up at him.

"Watch the hair, Beast." She growled, and without warning turned and wrapped her arms around him. "I love you; you know that, right?"

Beast blinked away tears summoned by the heartfelt declaration and returned her hug gingerly so as not to hurt her. "Jubilation, there has never once in my lifetime been any doubt of that fact. And I return the sentiment with as much fervour. I will be glad when this is all over and we can return to our normal lives. Your return to the X-Men has been much more fraught than any of us had hoped."

"It'll be over soon enough, Beast." She smiled up at him, feeling strange emotions coming from Chalchiuhtlicue. "Take care of yourself out there."

Beast assured her he would, and extracted a promise from her to do the same and she gave him a small wave as she turned and joined her own team mates. She hadn't seen Jono, Paige or Monet in weeks as they had joined Violet, Sean, Emma and Heather in guarding the orbs.

As she stopped beside Violet, she felt something invisible brush against her, and gave Violet a side-long glance. Violet returned the look and her cheeks immediately reddened. "What?"

"She's a grown woman. If she wants to go to her death, who am I to stop her." Jubilee whispered and heard Heather whisper 'thanks' in her ear. "So long as you stay in the Heli once we get there." Jubilee added, and shot a look at the empty space in front of Violet when she heard the sharp intake of breath. "That's the terms, Heather. I'm not gonna argue with you over this and I'm not gonna lose another friend. Capiche?"

There came an unhappy, muttered 'capiche', just as Emma gave the order for her group to start moving onto the Transport. Jubilee buckled herself into her seat and shut her eyes. She didn't need to listen to Scott's motivating speech telling them what they were about to do. Instead she began to breathe deeply. When she was sure her feelings were as neutral as possible and there was no chance of her blurting out something or over-reacting, she tentatively called on Chalchiuhtlicue.

/**Yes, child?/**

_**What do I do?**_

**/Trust/**

_**Need a little more than that **_She couldn't help the peeved tinge to the thought, and the Goddess sighed softly _**Who needs to have the Orbs. What do we do with them?**_

**/People with powers similar to yours. Incendiary. I would suggest the Leader …the boy who flames…the Devil Man…you…the boy you are friends with that has no hair, he can link to your powers and the one who I healed. They need to hold them and to activate their powers and engulf the orbs in them/**

Jubilee frowned. She could easily work out who most of them were but she was stumped trying to think of who Devil Man could be.

/Emma, can you hear me?/ she sent out, and felt a soft touch of acknowledgement. /I need to know who on the Transport could be referred to as the Devil Man? It's important/

/Why do I get the feeling that you and Summers are working from a different script than the rest of us?/ Emma asked quietly a few seats away from her, and Jubilee shrugged.

/Probably because we are. It's necessary, Emma. Honestly./

Emma frowned, trying to think. Jubilee waited patiently as the telepath finally resorted to going through each and every mutant on board the Transport trying to connect powers with the description, and finally shot to her feet.

"Summers! Cockpit. Now!" She snapped, starting to run through the aisle. Jubilee unbuckled her seatbelt and joined him as they dashed towards the room. Logan beat the three of them to it and raised a foot, easily smashing through the door.

Jubilee was the quickest on her feet, and reached the cockpit just after him, ducking around his foot as he recovered his balance, fists blazing with her powers. She ducked as a fireball whooshed over her head and straightened. "Diablo! Stand down! We're not attacking you!" She ordered loudly. Diablo stood by the controls, a blazing column of flame, and he took on a fighting stance. Logan tried to push her behind him but she slapped his hand away. "Diablo, you are on a transport surrounded by mutants; good mutants, not Taken. Do you honestly think you can fight your way out of this?"

"What are you doing!" Mitchell roared, the fire intensifying.

"Saving a lot of soldier's lives." Scott announced quietly. "We have the Orbs and we have a plan. Fury would rather nuke Ehecatl's lair. It wouldn't work. All it would do is kill a lot of people who can be saved. He'd survive it and take more civilians and mutants. And we'd have the same problem all over again."

"And we need you, Devil Man." Jubilee announced, shaking off Logan's hand again. "To activate the Orbs. Scott, me, Everett, Johnny Storm, Jono and you. Everybody else is just a distraction to keep his Minions at bay."

Logan, Emma and Diablo turned to stare at her, but Scott simply nodded. "That's the plan. I'll distribute the Orbs between us. When we get to New Mexico, we distribute ourselves evenly throughout the others. What will be the signal, Jubilee?"

Jubilee hurriedly asked Chalchiuhtlicue if she were to be the one to know the time and place, and the goddess quickly confirmed it. "A pillar of plasma. Activate the orbs when the stream stops. It won't be hard to miss."

"Do you honestly think I'll agree to this?" Mitchell demanded loudly, and as Jubilee opened her mouth to answer, Emma beat her to it.

"Do you honestly believe, Mr. Mitchell, that you have a choice in the matter?"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Fury sat on his command chair, in the dark as soldiers scurried around him with flashlights. The darkness around him was echoed in the expression on his face, though it was unseen by most. A few feet away, Charles and Jean tried to connect with the X-Men, and Magneto paced behind them, clearly agitated.

Fury's hands were clenched tightly around the arms of his chair, and he glared in Charles's direction when the telepath finally sighed. "I cannot contact them."

"Your people did this." Fury spat and Jean's eyes flashed.

"You have no proof of that, Colonel. Glitch is missing and Network is still loose. She could easily have taken out the SHIELD." She snarled, flinching when she felt Charles's hand on her arm.

/It is them. I can feel it/ Charles sounded sad, and Jean barely resisted turning to look at him. /There has been something going on for some time now, but I could not pin point it/

/Scott has been hiding his mind from me/ Jean sent back and turned off her torch so no one could see her face. /What do you think-/

/I think they have the Orbs. I think they have crippled SHIELD, and are probably using Glitch. And I _know_ they've gone after Ehecatl/

/How do you know?/

In the darkness, Charles turned towards her and his grip on her wrist increased. /Because it is what I _should_ have done/

XXXXXX

It took nearly 6 hours to reach New Mexico, and the Transport landed in the scrub, a couple of hundred feet away from a rocky outcrop. Seated at the controls, Diablo looked around. "You sure this is it?" He asked hesitantly, and Jubilee nodded.

"Glitch knows the exact location. Since she's the pilot, I'm guessing that she brought us straight here. We're doing the right thing, Mitchell." She tried to reassure him, but he glared at her.

"Tell that to the committee when I'm being dishonourably discharged." He muttered, and Jubilee leant close to his ear.

"I'm sure we have room for you at the Mansion if all comes to all." She turned her head and gave him a swift peck on the cheek. "Now come on. It's party time."

She darted back out of the room, highly conscious of the Orb tucked down the front of her top. She, Jono and Diablo were the only one who could carry it conveniently, but the others had to improvise and there were suspicious bulges in Scott, Everett, and Johnny's uniforms. Meta Man carefully limped his way to the ramp as it lowered and when Psylocke had moved the barrels to the mouth of the cave, he bowed his head and began to atomise the liquid inside. Storm's eyes took on a pearly sheen and she raised her hands, summoning wind. She allowed her powers to control the stream of particles as they rose and sent them pouring through the rock, carrying the drug with them into every nook and cranny they could find. Finally, she sent a drenching rain after it, damping it all down so that their own people would not be affected by it. Meta Man turned and returned to his seat with a hesitant, pain-filled step.

Jubilee hurried back through the helicarrier to reach her battle group and when she reached Gen-X, Everett patted her arm gently, keeping his eyes on the exit as those closer to the ramp began to stream out. Logan took the lead, sniffing at the air to find a scent trail; with so many people concentrated in one place, it didn't take long for him to locate the scent and suddenly he was off like a shot, claws bared as he pounded towards a dark line in the rock, a wave of mutants behind him, ready for the fight.

Jono smacked Jubilee on the arm as they moved down the ramp and winked as she glanced up at him. "Tag, you're it!" He crowed and lengthened his stride. She did the same, and they entered the dark cleft in the rock at full pelt, side by side, with Paige and the others directly behind them. They slowed when they entered the dark tunnel, and Jubilee used her paffs to try to light the way. When they emerged into the inky darkness, she sent streams of paffs up into the darkness, shedding light on the mutants that had already engaged in fierce battle.

She joined the fray almost with glee, glad to finally engage properly with the enemy after all the ducking and diving of the previous months. It was hard not to fight each fight to the death; Scott had given good orders, and reminded them all that those they were fighting were friends; the bodies of friends with their minds trapped by Ehecatl.

She didn't know who she fought but as she smacked, kicked and punched her way through the sea of bodies, she kept an eye on the other five, waiting to be told the moment to signal. Ahead of her, Bob Parr and Vesper tag-teamed Ben Grim, and as he fell to the ground, knocked unconscious from a double punch that could have been choreographed, she used his body as a platform, leaping onto the highest point to try to see where the target was.

With a clear view over most people's heads, she realised there was a space at the back of the cavern, heavily surrounded by fighting. "That's him?"

**/That's him. Go/**

She didn't need anything else, and sent a stream of plasma soaring upwards to the cavern roof. **/Hotter, harder/** came the command and she poured herself into the act, summoning her new power, suddenly realising exactly what Chalchiuhtlicue needed her to do. From the top of Ben's back, she literally punched her paffs upwards, disintegrating the cavern roof until the Goddess told her it was enough and she cut it off abruptly. In the sudden silence that fell, golden rays flooded through the new hole in the roof, making the dust that had once been the roof sparkle, shedding light on the battle. Suddenly remembering the Orb, Jubilee fished it out of her uniform and held it up high, engulfing it in her powers.

Around the cavern, Diablo and the others did the same and Jubilee almost gasped as the Orb she held seemed to crack and fall to pieces in her hand. A strange sensation ran around her fingers, and in the distance, she could see the figure robed in darkness jerk as if he knew something was happening. After a moment, she could see a Wraith-like figure wrapped around her fingers and down her arm, head pointed in Ehecatl's direction. **/My Brother, Tlaloc. We must go now, Jubilation. Your time has come/**

Jubilee looked around and spotted another translucent God disappearing downwards through people's legs from Scott's grip, and she nodded sharply, telling him that everything was going to plan. "Here goes nothing." She whispered and moved to jump from Ben's back only to be tackled to the ground. She found herself on her back, face to face with Heather who was breathing hard, having had to fight her way through the battle to get to her.

"There's another way, Jubilee. I saw it. I saw it the first time I touched you and it was all I could do not to tell you. This is why I snuck onto the Transport." She whispered harshly. "Chalchiuhtlicue is inside you. I can free you. I can let you stay inside me. You can live…in a way…please?" She stressed her plea anxiously, knowing what rested on Jubilee making the right decision. Suddenly Jubilee's eyes glowed with a pearly sheen.

"**Do what you can." **Chalchiuhtlicue ordered sharply. **"And quickly! Save her soul if you can!"**

Closing her eyes, Heather pressed her bare hands against Jubilee's skin and prayed it would work.

XXXXX

Logan sank his claws into Sabretooth's throat and let him fall to the ground, seemingly lifeless. He knew his mortal enemy wasn't dead and despite Scott's earlier warning about not killing, he drew his arm back to deliver the final blow that would hopefully end their life-long battle for survival. Suddenly the battle moved and someone hit him in the back, making him stumble away. The tide of human bodies moved him further away from Creed and he realised that the mutant would regenerate before he could get find him again.

He found himself pushed towards the outer wall of the cavern where the floor sloped upwards, and he used the height advantage to look around to see how the Battle was going. He could see friends and enemies fighting hard, and more than one person disappeared downwards in the sea of bodies and didn't reappear.

Steeling himself to re-enter the fight, he took one last look around and froze as Jubilee came into view, just about to broach the circle of free space at the back of the cavern. His breath caught in his throat as she broke into a run and threw herself at the darkly robed figure. Ehecatl brought up his hands as if to defend himself, but Jubilee knocked him to the ground and in that instant six ghostly spectres slid out from amongst the fighters and wrapped themselves around the struggling pair on the floor.

Those Taken faltered mid step and seemed almost dizzy as Ehecatl's grip on them loosened and then suddenly disappeared completely. It took a few moments for those fighting them to realise that the situation had changed, and from around him came exclamations and apologies as punches weren't pulled in time and confused mutants asked what the hell was happening, loudly and vehemently.

Logan didn't care and stood rooted to the spot, trying to see what had happened to Jubilee. Spotting a rock pillar, he climbed up halfway, finally able to see them again. In the sudden silence that fell, a chilling cry of pain ripped through the cavern and through his heart as the final, true battle continued. It took a moment to realise it wasn't her, or another mutant that had screamed. The cry of rage and despair had come from his mouth as his heart and head suddenly realised that his child, his Jubilee had somehow known what was coming. All the little moments of the past few weeks came spilling back to him, ending with her asking if he was going to be ok. She knew. She damn well knew!

Everyone in the cavern flinched and hurriedly drew away leaving a wide space between them and the struggling mass of human and wraith as they erupted with a searing white light as Chalchiuhtlicue unleashed Jubilee's powers. It turned into a pillar that soared upwards, past the rim of hole Jubilee had made and then disappeared as quickly as it had flared up. As the light died away and their vision returned, the silence grew more dense and impenetrable. In the clear space, a lone figure lay on the sandy floor, clothes smoking and ominously still. It took everything that Logan had to move and he half-fell from the rock onto the ground. He didn't feel Scott and Remy help him stagger to his feet, or even realise that it was only their hands that were keeping him upright as he lurched towards the back of the cavern. Both men were unwilling to let their team mate face his worst nightmare alone, and both were intent on honouring their promise to her.

Tears ran down Remy's face unchecked as anger threatened to overwhelm him. Not at the situation, but at himself. At the fact he'd let her down. He hadn't found a way to save her. He had failed. The closer they got to the fallen body, the more leaden their footsteps became, and the sea of people parted slowly until they were at the edge of the circle. On the other side, Emma and Sean were fighting their way through, and dimly at the edge of his hearing, Logan could hear the White Queen murmur 'no' over and over again. She sank to her knees when she saw the body and her entire body sagged when she saw the state of Logan; it was then she _knew_ Jubilee was gone.

Logan shook off his help as he approached, and fell to his knees. He reached out and rolled her over onto her back, revealing vacant blue eyes staring back at him. Scott ducked his head as Logan gently gathered her up and held her close, rocking slightly, pressing his face against her hair.

Behind them, SHIELD soldiers flooded down the passage and into the room, faltering when they realised that there was no fighting. Their guns were still held at the ready, but as the situation was relayed back down the line and over radios, Fury, Charles, Magneto and Jean pushed their way through to emerge into the chilling silence.

Charles knew in an instant that someone important had died from the shock on the faces of those closest and froze in place. He and Magneto stood and stared at the strange scene around them. "Who is it?" Magneto asked quietly, but Charles shook his head, suddenly unwilling to use his powers.

Jean broke into a run, seeing her husband standing with his head bowed. She skidded to a halt when confronted with the heartbreaking tableau and half turned, horror written on her face. /Jubilee…/

Charles closed his eyes and drew in a deep, steadying breath, knowing Fury was looking at him for an answer. "Jubilee." He swallowed hard and gave his head a quick, disbelieving shake. "She is dead." He left the Colonel staring and pushed his way through the crowd, emerging just as Logan lurched to his feet, awkwardly trying to cope with the dead weight in his arms. He didn't meet anyone's eye as he turned towards the exit and began to walk, and one by one, the X-Men and Generation-X followed in a slow, mournful procession.

XXXXX

As the last of them disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel, those left behind seemed to shake off the spell that was holding them silent. It was then that the questions began, and those that were truly fugitives, like Creed and Mystique, attempted to run. Fury knew when to cut his losses, and a curt order had his men stepping aside to let them escape. There had been enough deaths that day and he was suddenly unwilling to allow Jubilee's sacrifice for his men be sullied. He had a reputation of being a hard-assed bastard, but on this day of days, he would be how Jubilee had always seen him as.

He turned and looked around the sunlit cavern and folded his arms as awkward moments turned into joy and pain. It wasn't hard to miss Bob Parr's reunion with his family as his huge bulk, like that of The Thing and Vesper towered over the more normal sized mutants. He held his youngest son balanced on one arm as his wife wrapped her elastic limbs around him and quietly told Frozone what had happened, being as vague as possible as he told him that Ehecatl had murdered his wife Honey. There was no way he would ever let his friend find out that she had died at his hands.

The same conversation continued throughout the room, and some of the narrators had large groups of people gathered around them as the struggled to understand what had happened over the past weeks and months.

Diablo approached holding his torn and scorched uniform jacket in his hand and held it out to Fury as a Knight might once have handed his sword over to his king. "If you're going to drum me out, go right ahead. I really don't care anymore. I thought they were crazy. I fought against helping them, but I should have been…I'm going outside for a smoke." He shook his head and tiredly trudged past his Commander, shoulders slumped. "She died for us, you know?" He called over his shoulder, making sure that the soldiers standing around him heard. "They knew there'd be a massacre if we went. She knew…she knew she was going to die."

XXXXX

Once he got out of the passageway, Logan kept walking, deaf to the hushed talking behind him and the loud sounds of soldiers erecting tents and organising a camp. All he knew was that the light weight in his arms was his and his alone and no one else could touch it. So he kept walking, heading for the flat plain ahead of him. All he knew was that he had to walk. So he walked.

Charles and Scott were the last to follow, and the telepath put his hand on Scott's arm to stop him. When his former student looked at him curiously, Charles shook his head. "He is...not there right now. Let him walk. It will not harm him, and...she cannot be harmed any longer."

Scott's head dipped down in a show of grief and he half turned away from Logan. "She knew, Professor."

"Knew what?" Charles sounded preoccupied, and Scott realised he was probably still trying to get through the wall of grief that Logan had erected around himself.

"Knew she was going to die. That day, back in her temple." Scott quietly filled him in on everything he had missed and been excluded from, and when he was finished, he turned back to watch Logan.

"How else have I failed you?" Charles asked softly, and Scott stepped closer. "How else have I let my children down? Why didn't you warn me?"

"You were doing what needed to be done Charles. And we did what needed to be done. Someone had to keep SHIELD...happy. And distracted. We might have needed them."

"I could have done _something_!" Charles's voice became hard and pain filled. "I _should_ have done something. And you should have told us."

"And risk this? Chalchiuhtlicue wouldn't allow it. And if she harmed Jubilee in any way because I had told, then I never could have forgiven myself. She...Jubilee always knew her own mind. She knows right from wrong. Knew." He amended quietly. "Do you honestly think we could have stopped her? Or stopped this? It was something that was set in motion years before she was born. Before most of us were born."

"Mortality is of the highest importance – but for us, not for god." Charles quoted quietly as the thought came unbidden into his mind. He sighed softly and turned his back on Logan who was rapidly disappearing into the distance. Behind them, the X-Men had been listening to their conversation, and he met pain-filled and accusing eyes.

"You knew!" Emma snapped, and Scott nodded.

"We both knew." Remy stepped up. "An' de Petite, she knew. An' she accepted her fate. We looked, we tried to find a way around tings, but...there was nuthin'. Even talkin' to de God inside could do nuthin'. She wanted to spare Jubilee, if she could. But she needed her power, an' said dat Jubilee not survive having a god leave her body. You tink we wanted her to die!"

Hard eyes met his but he met her stare and held it until she looked away, unable to take the sorrow in them on top of her own emotions. Behind her, Paige was staring into the desert while tears streamed down her face. Jono and Everett were standing on either side of her, both looking disturbed. In the end, Jono shivered and pulled Paige close, wrapping his arms and his coat around her.


	23. Hope Springs Eternal

Logan fell to his knees when the Transports had disappeared from view as his grief finally broke through the icy fist that held his heart and welled up to erupt in an animalistic howl of pain and anguish that shattered the still silence of the desert. He put her down on the ground and smoothed her hair back from her face, while his tears left tracks on his cheeks and landed on hers, only to be wiped away as he touched her still face over and over again, as if his hands were trying to reconcile with the fact he would never get to do it again. Bent low over her, he began to rock back and forth as his grief overwhelmed him and he cried as he'd never cried before.

XXXXXXXXXX

While the others wept and talked and explained things behind him, Scott watched as Logan disappeared into the shimmering light that bathed the desert lands. He was vaguely aware that behind him, Jean was trying to get his attention, but there and then, the lies, deceit and intrigue that she was trying to discuss with him were nothing compared to the loss and defeat he was feeling.

He knew Remy probably felt the same, and a quick glance showed the auburn haired Cajun sitting on a rock with a piece of paper in his hands which fluttered gently in the light wind that blew. Finally, he turned his back on the desert and looked around at the tents that had been set up between the two transports. Above them, high in the sky, the massive Helicarrier was hovering within sight and he sighed softly. Jubilee's former classmates were staring out into the desert, clearly in shock at their loss, while a few feet away, Emma and Sean were concentrating on a communicator, clearly steeling themselves to make a call they were dreading. The White Queen's normally pale skin was now alabaster and her eyes wore a haunted expression. Sean's eyes were red, though he hadn't yet shed a tear. He'd wait until he was alone to mourn her as he wanted and needed to. Steeling himself, he punched it and waited for Bishop's deep voice to answer.

"It's Banshee. You can tell everyone back at the mansion that we've succeeded. We...Ehecatl was defeated. Anybody that was Taken is back with us...I'm not sure if there were any deaths. Any other deaths..." He trailed off awkwardly and cleared his throat. "Bishop, I need you to find Angelo...and tell him...tell him that she's...Jubilee is-"

"Jubilation is dead. She sacrificed herself to save everyone." Emma cut in, realising that Sean couldn't bring himself to say the words.

Back in the control room, Bishop froze as her words sank in. He cut them off with a jab of a button and left his post, striding through the deserted corridors. Instead of taking the elevator, he took the stairs, unable to stand still even for the short time it would have taken to reach the main floor. Bursting out the small, hidden door, he stalked past those who had been deemed too young, too injured and those with powers too weak to be much use in the fight until he realised he was passing Angelo. He reached out and snagged the Latino's shirt without stopping and dragged him along until they reached a wall. Eyes dangerous, he slammed the teenager against the plaster and held him there with both large hands bunched up in his shirt either side of his neck.

Angelo's eyes were large and frightened as he searched the black time traveller's face for some hint of what was going on. "Bishop-?"

"She's dead. Jubilee...my commander, my _leader_ is dead." Bishop pulled Angelo away from the wall and slammed him back against it, cracking the plaster as he growled, revealing the true extent of their relationship in the future. But the moment Angelo's face crumpled into a mask of grief and despair, the fierce anger that had run through him, and the need to break something that Ehecatl had touched drained away. He let go of the shirt and stepped back, watching as Angelo slid down the wall until he was sitting bonelessly on the floor.

Turning, he raised his voice. "The Battle was won; Ehecatl is dead. Spread the word."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Emma slipped the communicator inside her uniform and joined Scott by Charles's side. "What?" She asked frostily. Scott hung his head sadly.

"Nothing. We were just…talking." Scott murmured.

"About? There have been far too many secrets in the past few weeks, Summers." She declared pointedly, "and look how they turned out?" She gestured in the direction Logan had gone in and Charles and Scott shared a long look.

"We were discussing what had just happened, and the last orb. The one from Russia that was taken. Scott says that they contained other entities like the one that had possessed Jubilee. If it is here, then there is something trapped in it that needs to be released." Charles rested his hand on Scott's shoulder, silently urging him not to rise to any bait that Emma might throw at him.

"I don't see why we should help them." Sean announced, crossing his arms firmly across his well muscled chest. "They've caused us nothin' but trouble. Death and destruction. Leave 'em go to hell." The Irish brogue was strong and thick and the pain in his eyes was hard to meet.

"It's what we do." Remy finally looked up from his letter and tiredly got to his feet. "We help. No? If dat not what we do, den what we do? We fight…we fight fo' people who cannot fight. Dese 'gods' dey couldn't do it without us. Jubilee, she know dis. She know all too well."

Inside the Cavern, Heather's eyes opened and stared up through the twinkling dust that still filled the cavern, lit by the wide column of light that flooded in from the new hole in the roof. Her hand twitched at her side and rose shakily to reach up into the light, as if it could catch the small specks of light. After a moment her left arm snaked out and grabbed her other hand, gripping it tightly until the knuckles were white underneath its leather covering.

Beside her, Ben Grim stirred and opened his eyes. Unsure of why he was suddenly lying on the ground in a dust-filled cavern, he stayed still and realised that he was staring at a woman lying on the ground with him. She twitched and moved as though warring with herself, eyes wide and scared.

"Hey, kid…" He whispered softly and reached out to take her hand. He stopped a bare inch from her when her head turned towards him and a hiss left her lips.

"Ssssstop"

The voice was strange and the look in her eyes even stranger as she stared back at him and slowly moved her hands out of reach.

"Kid…what's going on?" He looked around at the mostly empty cavern and sat up, realising neither of them were in much danger.

"Oorb." The bare hand reached towards his belt and unhooked a cloth bag from it. He didn't miss the shudder and wince as she did so, and he reached out to grip her shoulder. "We must get it…out. Save the one…Save her. Save us."

"We?" Ben looked around; there was only the girl and himself in the vicinity and he frowned worriedly. "We who?"

"Orb." The woman almost spat out and fumbled with the bag as if the left hand didn't know or understand what the right one was doing. It was then that Ben put two and two together and got, well, two. Two people; one body.

"Who are you?" He asked, grabbing her by both shoulders, and the face turned up to him, light blue eyes wide and searching.

"We are Unity…" the voice hissed, and suddenly the body beneath his hands shuddered and the eyes closed. "We are _not_ Unity. We are _Heather_." There was another shiver. "_And _we are Jubilee. And everyone else. We must free the orb. You must help us."

Ben's forehead crinkled into a frown. "Jubilee? That's Logan's annoying-"

"Pain in the ass." The woman finished for him, the accent and cadence changing from the strange modulated tone to a much more normal one. "Not for much longer if we don't get moving. We are two souls of two bodies encased in one and that is not a good thing. We must survive. We_ must _release the Orb!"

The body attempted to stand and stumbled and flopped like a newborn foal, legs trembling. Gripping her arm, he hauled her upright and watched as she froze. "You two trying to control one body, ey? You might be better off letting one person handle that instead of arguing about it."

It seemed to think about what he'd just said and the body wobbled again before the knees straightened and locked. Shaking off his grip, she stalked towards the entrance, and Ben smirked slightly, knowing who was in control now he knew who was in the body. Only Jubilee could carry off that much attitude in a body that wasn't hers.

He followed her outside, having to trot to keep up with her, and squinted in the bright glare as she faltered outside of the mouth to the tunnel. "Your lot is over there." He pointed, being several feet higher than her and in a better position to see. She looked up at him with that odd expression and her lips twisted into a weird smile and he realised that they were both attempting to smirk at him.

"C'mon, kid." He pushed her in the direction of the X-Men, noting the presence of SHIELD soldiers, tents and the massive Helicarrier floating above them, and when he got close enough to the X-Men, he called out to them.

"Got a body here needs to talk to you lot." He called when they got close enough to be heard, and Charles and Emma turned.

"Heather? You were supposed to stay back at the Mansion-" Emma began, but stopped when Charles held up his hand. Something was off and he could see it immediately. Heather was walking strangely, her shoulders back and her head high. There was a strange sway to her hips and he tentatively reached out with his mind, only to draw back just as swift.

"Heather isn't alone in there." He murmured, and Emma straightened, eyes sharp.

"We are not alone." Heather's body intoned quietly, the voice going back to the strange, unified tone of their voices and accents. "We are two souls from two bodies in one body. We are Heather, and we are Jubilee. When we touched her the first time, we received a number of images and it took some time to realise just what one of them meant. Two souls in one body. We must return her to her own body quickly, or she will be absorbed into us and we will be like this forever. Before, it was only ever the memories she took. Heather and Jubilee will cease to be. We will be Unity forever." She held up the Orb in her bare hand. "Where is the body?"

Emma glanced towards the desert and Heather's eyes widened. "He'd better not be burying me!"

The screech was in Jubilee's Californian accent, and drew the rest of the X-Men's attention as she broke into a strange gambling run. Sharing a look, Scott and Jean turned on their heels and followed, and soon they were out of sight of the main camp and approaching the speck in the distance that was Logan. It was Heather/Jubilee that noticed as she grew closer, that there were strange bright lights hovering behind Logan's back, and they felt a surge of hope well up.

They reached him first, sliding to an ungainly stop in front of him as they momentarily lost control of their legs. The sight of her body limply draped over Logan's arms threw Jubilee for a minute, giving Heather back control of the body, and she opened her mouth to speak, but Logan beat her to it.

"Go away." He ordered hollowly, not lifting his eyes from the lifeless eyes staring up at him.

"Logan-"

/_He will not listen/ _One of the orbs of light coalesced into a glowing humanoid form, and Heather squinted up at it. Chalchiuhtlicue's feet didn't touch the ground, but she stepped closer and crouched beside him, peering at him curiously. /_He does not appear to be able to hear now. It is most curious/_

"Can you put us back the way we were?" Heather asked as the others caught up with them, slightly out of breath. They stopped a few feet away and watched the three of them warily, eyeing the Goddess carefully. "I mean, you said for us…for me to take her in; to save her soul if we could. We saved her soul. Can it be put right?"

Chalchiuhtlicue put her hand out and touched it against Jubilee's smooth, unlined forehead, looking at her sadly. /_Our power is too weak. It took everything, including the child's power reserves to destroy my brother. Did you find-/_ She looked up as the Orb was held out towards her and nodded slowly. /_Please; release Akna. Set my sister free/_

Heather looked confused, but Scott reached down and plucked the Orb from her hand. Tossing it into the sky, he touched his finger to his visor and set off a quick blast, hitting it as it began its downward arc. The stone split into two and fell away to reveal another glowing sphere, which hovered for a moment, seeming to hesitate.

The brighter sphere darted around her glowing form, and after a moment, it drifted down to graze Jubilee's lips, and bobbed up and down there for a few moments before returning to Chalchiuhtlicue.

Emma had to squint to make out the glowing figures features properly, and her eyes narrowed as she realised that the Being seemed to be smirking. "You have your people; they're all free. Now go, and leave us be. Go back to your temples!" She snapped, and Chalchiuhtlicue turned to look at her, while the other bright orbs of light drifted and darted around her. On the ground, Logan finally lifted his head and looked around, seeming to finally take notice of what was going on around him. He looked down again and frowned, cupping Jubilee's cheek with a trembling hand.

/_But you deserve a reward for your work; do you not wish to receive that which you have earned?/_ The being asked curiously, and the Orbs darted between the two of them. Emma's mouth opened and closed, and she looked to the others to answer.

"We…" Jean began, looking worriedly at Charles, who seemed suddenly struck dumb.

"Unless you're bringing back de Petite, you needn't bother." Remy answered for all of them , his tone taut and bitter. "We don' need no gifts." The last word was practically spat, and Chalchiuhtlicue gave a minute shrug and sighed heavily.

/_Very well, then. We will take our leave. __Those of us that still exist; my brothers and sisters, we will depart this world. Our time has passed. Your people have evolved beyond the need for our presence. There is room only for one God I think in this world, and you have chosen him. And though he appears in many different forms, he is still one god, unlike what we were. We will not interfere with your lives again__/_

The shining orbs darted upwards, leaving her and the newly freed God alone with them. "That's a promise?" Logan spat gruffly from his place on the ground, and hugged his daughter closer, her face and body turning against his chest as he stood and adjusted his grip.

_/__That is a promise_/ She stepped away to stand by her sister, lifting her hands in benediction when she stood in front of the others. /_May your lives never be in shadow/ _With that, her form shrank down until she was a small ball of light again and the two of them shot upwards, disappearing into the bright blue sky.

"Logan, I-" Jean began, and he sighed heavily, turning to look at Heather instead.

"Touch her, kid." He ordered gruffly, and Heather/Jubilee stood awkwardly, both fighting for control of the body again. The bare, right hand reached out to touch the body, but the leather-clad hand clamped down on it again. It wasn't strong enough and with a quick movement, flesh met flesh and Heather's body seemed to jerk. The girl collapsed into heap on the ground, and Logan hugged his burden closer, suddenly burying his face in her hair as a violent shudder tore through him.

While Jean and Charles hurried to help Heather, Bobby moved to stand beside Remy, putting his hand over a bandage on his arm. "Do you ever feel like you're not singing from the same hymn sheet as everybody else?" He asked worriedly, and Remy nodded slowly, not taking his eyes away from Logan.

"Shhh, watch…" He murmured, his sharp eyes fastened on the pair. He had a suspicion that the goddess had gifted them something after all, and his thoughts were confirmed when Jubilee's hand twitched and moved slowly to grip Logan's bicep.

"Easy, big guy…" Her words seemed loud in the sudden silence and Logan's grip increased. "Seriously, Logan; need my ribs to breathe…"

It was then that Charles and Jean realised that Logan hadn't been crying into her hair, but had been laughing. Tears still streamed down his cheeks, but as he lifted his face to look down on her, a wide smile had replaced the grief on his face, and Paige and Rogue threw their arms around each other. Storm sagged against Beast as though her strength had deserted her, but Bobby simply gaped, his jaw slack.

Scott was the first to approach, and letting out a shuddering breath, he reached out and moved aside her hair to look at her properly; to make sure she was really and truly alive. Logan carefully released her legs, letting her lower body slide down his until she was standing, but kept an arm wrapped tightly around her; partly because he was reluctant to let her go, but mostly because her body was trembling like a newborn colt and he wasn't sure she had the strength left to stay on her own two feet.

"I'm here, Scott." She assured him, reaching up to grip his hand as he pushed her hair back behind her ear. "Thank God…Thank Our God. Not them…" She glanced upwards and shuddered. "I'm alive. And well…so…um…"

"We tell no one of what has happened." Charles announced, straightening and bringing a stunned looking Heather with him. He looked as though he was fighting a smile, and cleared his throat softly. "Logan was mistaken when he thought she was dead. Her powers were merely spent and she was breathing so softly that it was hard to detect. Ben?"

The Thing nodded slowly, looking more confused than he'd ever been in his life. "I dunno what's going on, but right now I'll agree to that…the kid's not dead…an' that kid didn't have another person in her…an' I'm in the desert an' have no idea why I'm here, an' there was no glowie lights…have I missed anythin'?"

Rogue gently grasped his arm and began to head back to the tents, pulling him along with her. "C'mon, sugah, I'll explain while we walk."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The X-Men's return to the tents was quiet, and the others thronged around Logan and Jubilee, hiding them from view until they reached a tent that Jono and Sean had run ahead and secured. Hank declared her fit and well, aside from exhaustion and a few bruises from the fight and had enveloped her in a bone crushing hug as soon as he was sure she wasn't any the worse for her experience.

They didn't hang around long at the tent city; a few hours later, the stolen transport rose into the air with less than half the people who had come with them, leaving behind those who chose to stay with their own friends and families as they got medical treatment and were debriefed.

When they set down on the lawn of the mansion, it was a small welcoming committee of two that met them. Angelo was practically bouncing where he stood as the X-Men and their passengers streamed out, and he ran up to Logan and gestured for him to put Jubilee down so he could hug her properly.

When he did, it was gentle and gingerly due to Logan's gruff warning, but she returned it with gusto, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Most of our guests have left." Bishop informed them quietly as he joined them, and Jean nodded. From the reaction of those who had stayed behind in the desert, she guessed that most people just wanted to get back to their own lives and get on with living again. Only a handful of Supers had stayed; those who had no place to go like the Parrs, and those who would have some work to do to make their homes liveable again, like Tradewind.

There was no huge homecoming; no party, no celebrations. Instead, most went to bed, or sought out a quiet place in which to sit and think, or rest. Logan and Jubilee disappeared into his room for two days straight, and when they came out, both were still quiet. A long discussion had gone on behind his door when Jubilee had finally woken from her exhausted slumber, and he'd had to hide his anger at her actions, and what had been done to her over the last months. He was still angry as he finally left to find them food, and she'd sat up in the bed amongst the nest she'd created and held out her hand to him. "Logan, just remember; if this hadn't happened…if I hadn't carried her, I'd be dead now. I'd have been dead a long time ago. We'd have never have gotten to get over our argument and I wouldn't be Jubilation Lee Logan now."

He stopped in his tracks, his hand tightening around the doorknob as her words hit him. "You would, wouldn't you?"

She smiled wanly and nodded. "Like, yeah. So, put it behind you. The past is past and the present is all that matters. We Logan's live for the now, right?"

He nodded slowly and walked out the door as his anger dissipated. When she put it like that, it seemed he had no choice but to accept what had happened and resolved to make sure nothing like it ever happened again.

The door had only been shut a few moments when it opened again, and Heather poked her head inside, looking at Jubilee worriedly. The teenager beckoned her in tiredly and lay back against the pillows tiredly. "Hey…"

"Hey…" They both began awkwardly, and Jubilee reddened.

"Thank you. For saving my life. And my soul." She added apologetically. "And, um, sorry…for trying to take over your body like that."

Heather shrugged, sitting down gingerly on the edge of the mattress. "I'm not going to say it's ok, but I understand why you did it. And I'm a little used to it. You were stronger than anyone I've taken in to me though…combined."

"That's probably because you weren't taking my memories; you were taking _me_ in." Jubilee pointed out sleepily, covering a yawn with her hand. "If you hadn't done that…I don't know what would have happened."

Heather looked downcast and kept her eyes on her hands, flexing them in her gloves. "I do. The X-Men would have been destroyed. Logan would have gone crazy with grief…they wouldn't have recovered from it. I saw it, Jubilee. That day in the kitchen when I touched your hand. It took so long to sort through the images I got; it was only after I took in Edwin that I realised exactly how bad things could get. But we're all going to be ok now. Everybody. I'm going back to England tomorrow; I've outstayed my time here. Me and Vesper are hitching a ride with Excalibur."

"We'll keep in touch though, right?" Jubilee asked worriedly, and Heather got to her feet with a smile, nodding as she peeled off a glove. Leaning over, she tucked the covers tightly around the sleepy teenager and touched her hand against her cheek. After a moment, her smile increased and she nodded again.

"Wild horses couldn't stop us." She grinned and Jubilee slipped off into sleep with her own smile on her face.

Five months later, wide blue eyes looked around in wonder as noise and colour assaulted her senses. She was standing on a sidewalk as floats and acrobats and people wearing outrageous costumes danced and shimmied past them and confetti rained down on them like snow. Around her neck were strands of beads and she wore a flower in her hair as the music danced in her bones and made her grin like a lunatic.

Standing on either side of her, Logan and Remy ignored the festivities around them, concentrating most of their attention on the teenager who was practically vibrating from happiness between them. It had taken Jubilee until after Christmas to regain the rest of her strength, and she had spent the time confined either to bed or sofas to conserve what little strength she had left.

It was the first week of January when she'd finally been given the ok to resume normal activities, and the first time Scott had found her rollerblading down the Long Hall, he'd just stood and smiled instead of berating her. She seized her new chance of life with both hands and the intense enthusiasm and lust for life that she'd been born with and had soon been running rings around everyone once more.

As yet another float passed and beads were tossed at her, Logan looked over at Remy and growled "It had to be Mardi Gras, didn't it!"

Remy just grinned and shook his head. "I promise de Petite de world, an' you an' me, Canuck, we'll show it to her an' keep her safe at de same time."

Logan glanced down at her as she began to jump up and down, waving at Violet, Angelo and Paige who were leaning over a balcony on the far side of the street and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, but who'll keep the world safe from _her_?"

_**Finis**_

_**A huge thank you to all who have been reading this, and especially to those of you who have stuck with it from the beginning. This chapter has been a long time coming and I am REALLY**__**glad I've finally gotten there. **_

_**And mostly, thank you to FionaH. You've been there since this story first crossed my mind, and you've been there to reign me in when I've killed yet another character (including Jubilee…several times…). You've really been what's kept me going – I promised you I'd finish it, and here it is, all done So thank you! Words are never enough.**_


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